Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman said G-20 is proof that India is on the path of progress, while speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry-CII B-20 summit here in the capital on Friday. Later, in an exclusive interaction with The Statesman on whether India will be a different India after the G-20 Summit, the Finance Minister said, “India is already changing, the process is ongoing. The change is here and now”.

To a query about the progress in the sector of health and education after the G-20 Summit, she said, “It is a process that is happening in every sector all around”.

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She said “India has emerged as the fastest growing economy in a vulnerable world. It has shown an impressive performance, investments have perked up and the first quarter GDP of the current fiscal is expected to show robust numbers.”

She further said, “The world is passing through the aftermath of the devastation caused by Covid-19 and its spill-over effects, food and energy security, climate change, are some of the aggravating global concerns. Besides, each country has a unique situation which needs specific handling to rebuild their economies while speaking on the session on key priorities for Sustained Global Economic Recovery in the summit.”

At the Confederation of Indian Industry-CII B-20 summit in the national capital on Friday, Sitharaman highlighted five key priorities which she felt were critical to bring global economies to the path of sustained recovery.

Among the first was taming inflation wherein she stressed that the task before the Central Banks was to keep in mind the primacy of growth while keeping inflation in check.
The second priority was to increase the emphasis on investment, especially public investment in physical assets, to spur growth while the third priority was to augment investment in education and health. She alluded to the issue of finance to tackle climate change as the fourth priority while the last one related to diversification of supply chains to fortify growth.

India’s strong performance, according to the Finance Minister, has been the result of a plethora of economic reforms implemented over the past nine years to improve physical, digital, and social infrastructure.

The steps such as National Infrastructure pipeline, PM Gati Shakti, National monetisation Pipeline have been commendable initiatives to boost infrastructure development. The 33 per cent rise in public capex, which has led to the crowding in of private investment, has put India on the sustained growth path, she said.

Many countries have evinced keen interest in learning from India’s digital public infrastructure and the India Stack which has uplifted the India brand, according to the Finance Minister.

While providing powerful insights on strengthening India’s position at the global high table, she dispelled the concerns regarding protectionism around Atma Nirbhar Bharat. She spoke on government initiatives on liberalisation such as engaging with industry for reducing the compliance burden; speedy decision-making, simplification of regulation for foreign portfolio investment, semiconductor mission, transforming GIFT city, fintech, among others. Such initiatives and more have contributed significantly to carve a niche in the global marketplace.

On FTAs, Sitharaman disclosed that the FTA agreement with UK is very close for a final call which could be concluded by the year end. The UK would be a threshold for the EU, EFTA and the Nordic countries. A partnership approach should be the centrepiece of the vision to take the country forward as the government alone cannot work in isolation, she maintained.