Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that India’s use of public money to build digital infrastructure, rather than relying on private players like many other countries, has also helped small businesses grow, innovate and access foreign markets.
The government has built a digital public infrastructure (also known as India Stack) and leveraged it for banking, payments, healthcare, marketing and education purposes, thereby creating an ecosystem that has not only improved governance and not only helped create inclusion . but it also allowed young minds to innovate with limited resources, he said. The minister was addressing the students of Jain University (considered future) in Bengaluru.
“This public infrastructure benefited a very small number of users, micro-level users, without even having to pay for it,” he stated. “Thus, small companies that wanted to grow, that wanted to access markets beyond their village, today are reaching not only the neighboring district or not only the state capital, but global markets.” The Minister recounted how, during one of his visits to Nagaland, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that a small NGO had received orders from the United States for the supply of Christmas gift items. However, technology must be constantly updated so that its transformative changes do not fail ordinary people, he said.
Sitharaman said the government has adopted a prudent fiscal management policy and its philosophy is to use taxpayers’ money to create sustainable wealth and provide good governance to the people. “I must account for every rupee I collect so that it is not wasted, so that common people benefit from the work done by the government.”
The Center has reduced its fiscal deficit from 9.2% of GDP in the pandemic year of FY21 to 5.6% in FY24. It aims to limit the deficit to 4.9% this financial year. It has also increased its capital spending by 17-39% annually since FY22, betting big on the higher multiplier effect of such productive spending to drive growth.
The capital expenditure outlay of Rs 11.11 lakh crore for FY2025 represents a 17% increase over the previous year. Responding to the question of how difficult it is for women to establish their identity in the patriarchal system, Sitharaman admitted that women have to face many challenges. But the minister urged women not to use patriarchy as an excuse to hide their flaws.
