Sitharaman Assures Full Support for Manipur’s Growth

New Delhi: Hitting back at the Opposition, Union finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that the central government is committed to provide all support for the economic growth of Manipur and assured to bring normalcy to the state. Besides, she also said that the Modi government has greater sensitivity and care for Manipur and other states as well. “Manipur is a sensitive issue, we all have to support one-another,” she said while addressing the Parliament Budget session in Rajya Sabha.

Boasting of the government’s past achievements, Sitharaman also addressed the debates questioning the government’s economic policies and their impact on household liabilities in the country. She also sought the support of the Opposition parties for peace in Manipur instead of engaging in the blame game. “We extend the fullest support to the state so that the recovery of Manipur will be sooner than later. We all want that state to grow and prosper as much as any other state,” she asserted.

During her address, Sitharaman also talked about the economy at length and hailed the “Make-in-India” initiative of the Centre, saying that the campaign has not failed but given great momentum to manufacturing. It is yielding “good results” as the government has taken multiple steps to strengthen the manufacturing sector, including defence production. She also attacked the Congress for taking a lot of time in formulating the national manufacturing policy and for ‘hurriedly’ signing free trade agreements with several countries, which were now being renegotiated and modified.

Dismissing concerns over rising household debt, Sitharaman also asserted that India’s financial position remains stronger than many emerging market economies (EMEs) and some of the developed nations. “India’s household debt-to-GDP ratio is relatively low compared to EMEs and some advanced economies. However, India’s assets and liability figures are much better than them,” she replied to a debate questioning the government's economic policies and their impact on household liabilities.

The finance minister also elaborated about the production-linked incentive or PLI schemes, noting that it has attracted investments worth Rs 1.5 trillion so far and created about 9,50,000 jobs across the country. On public sector banks (PSBs), the finance minister also said that PSBs have so far cumulatively recovered Rs 2,27,288 crore of written off loans. “About 164 corporate debtors have realised 169 per cent of the liquidation value under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code or IBC where the claim is more than 1,000 crore,” she added.