Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed his displeasure over media reporting of his speech made during the ‘Make in India’ workshop on Monday.
In a Facebook post titled, ‘Reporting with an Agenda’, Jaitley said, “What is reported is a speech that I did not deliver. The reports indicated that I had spoken on the Reserve Bank, its Governor and voiced differences with them. The fact is that there was not a single sentence reference (not even a word) in my entire speech on either the Reserve Bank or its Governor.”
His remarks came after various media reports gave the impression that he had differences with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan over rate cuts and the Make in India programme.
On Monday, Jaitley had stated that the high cost of capital was ‘singular factor which has contributed to slowdown of manufacturing growth itself.’
On Tuesday, he said, “One of the many points that I made was that the cost of capital has to be cut down. Anyone speaking on the subject of ‘Make in India’ into a manufacturing hub would necessarily suggest this.”
Coming down heavily on the media, Jaitley said the report of this speech in several sections of the media convinces “me that in the competitive world of journalism, reporters are always looking for an ‘angle’. Where none exists, the speech itself can be twisted to create one.”
He has also attached a video link of his speech for readers or viewers to see the difference between his speech and reporting in newspapers.