Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Views on Economic Policies

• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman argues that coalition politics has not affected the planning for the Union Budget or other Centre programs.
• She cites the inclusion of states like Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in the budget speech as a convenient argument for inclusion.
• Sitharaman criticizes the lack of transparency in the discussion and the lack of discussion on facts.
• She highlights the rapid movement in the policy formulation for AI, with domain experts willing to work with Indian companies.
• Sitharaman criticizes allegations against the SEBI chief, including her stake in a private consultancy firm and income from ESOPs from ICICI Bank.
• She questions the need for independent verification of these facts, given that the SEBI chief is an appointee of the Union government.
• Sitharaman criticizes the lack of transparency in AI infrastructure investment, stating that only four big tech companies are spending $200 billion a year and are planning to spend $500 billion in capex over three years.
• She also mentions the government’s corpuses for science and related matters, which are being used to raise more money from the market and fund projects.
• Sitharaman emphasizes the need to increase spending on health infrastructure, stating that it may not reach 6% of the GDP.
• She emphasizes the priority of building hospitals and ensuring they run independently, with nearly 157 hospitals built between 2014 and 2023.