(Feb 1): India’s finance minister outlined several new programmes to boost manufacturing and infrastructure to support an economy grappling with global risks and steep US tariffs.
In her budget speech on Sunday, Nirmala Sitharaman said the proposals will directly benefit the country’s youth, women, farmers, as well as public and private investment.
“Our first duty is to accelerate and sustain economic growth by enhancing productivity and competitiveness and building resilience to volatile global dynamics,” she told lawmakers in New Delhi.
The benchmark stock index was trading 0.5% higher at 11:15am in Mumbai after she began speaking. The speech is one of the most keenly watched economic events on the calendar, laying out the government’s policy and spending priorities for the year.
Economists expect Sitharaman to focus on boosting infrastructure spending, cutting red tape and raising productivity to bolster the economy against global headwinds and punitive 50% US tariffs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already overhauled labour laws and cut consumption taxes last year, with more economic reforms likely.
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Sitharaman highlighted several manufacturing initiatives, including for critical minerals, electronics manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and others. She also focused on measures to promote small businesses and build roads, railways, airports, ports, and logistics infrastructure.
The government is forecasting economic growth of 6.8% to 7.2% in the next fiscal year starting April 1, lower than the current year’s 7.4% and above the 6.6% median estimate by economists.
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