Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday highlighted India’s economic transformation and position of economic growth, comparing it to some developed countries. She also informed the house that pulses from Myanmar and tomatoes from Nepal were on the way to cool the food inflation in India.

Drawing attention to the situation in some developed countries, she said, “The United Kingdom’s struggle is a case in point; the Bank of England has raised interest rates 14 consecutive times. The European Central Bank is struggling with high inflation, having raised interest rates nine times to a 23-year high”. Turning the focus to India, Sitharaman said: “India is in a rare position of being optimistic and positive about its future growth.”

Sitharaman was initiating a debate on the third and final day on the no-confidence motion. The motion was moved by Congress leader Gourav Gogoi in Tuesday after the opposition raised the government’s alleged failure in curbing violence in Manipur. This is the second no-confidence motion against Modi government.

Citing the turnaround in India’s economic fortunes, she recounted the country’s journey from being labelled a “fragile economy” by Morgan Stanley in 2013 to now receiving a higher rating due to the government’s policies. Sitharaman said, “In 2013, Morgan Stanley declared India as a fragile economy. But it has now become the fastest-growing economy in just nine years.” She accused the previous UPA regime of wasting an entire decade, referring to its tenure from 2004 to 2014.

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“In 2022, there was only three per cent growth in the global economy. The World Bank has said in 2023, it will decline to 2.1 per cent,” she said. Developed countries such as the US and the UK, and the Euro zone are facing challenging times, while big economies such as China are also facing their own issues related to consumer demand and wage stagnation, the Finance Minister said.

The Minister claimed there was change in the mechanism of governance. ”There is a transformation in our governance,” she said and asserted that words such as “milega” (you will get) have been replaced by people saying “mil gaya” (we have got it). “We believe in empowering all and appeasement of none,” she said.

Inflation management

Talking about managing inflation and, in particular, food inflation, she said National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) has distributed over 8.82 lakh kilos of tomatoes in Rajasthan, Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh and this will continue in the coming days. “Already the prices of tomatoes in the wholesale mandis in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have started coming down below ₹100 and we expect this to help us,” she said.

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Further, India has initiated tomato imports from Nepal by lifting import restrictions. “The first lot of imports are likely to reach by Friday in Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur,” she informed. Also, tomatoes will be sold at ₹70 per kg in Delhi-NCR as prices continue to soar. NCCF will conduct the sale of tomatoes in Delhi-NCR at a subsidised rate this weekend, she said, informing that tomatoes are being procured from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, for distribution through cooperative societies like NCCF and NAFED.

This system has been in place in Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Rajasthan since July 14. Mobile vans in Delhi function as NCCF and NAFED outlets. Tomato prices witnessed a sudden jump last week mainly due to supply disruptions caused due to heavy rainfall in the key producing regions.

On pulses, she said that tur import is higher than last year and consignment from Mozambique is on the way. Similarly, urad is being imported from Myanmar “Supply of moong and massor is sufficient,” she said. She also added that 3 lakh tonnes of onion has been added to buffer stock to counter any possible price rise.

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