$5 Trillion Tune On FM

Nirmala Sitharaman is India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister. Before Sitharaman, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had presented the Union Budget (in 1970-71). With the Budget 2023-24, FM Sitharaman has, so far, presented five Budgets.

Sitharaman’s stint as FM has been noteworthy for another reason. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she presented a series of “mini Budgets” by way of a fiscal stimulus to help the economy absorb Covid-induced reverses.

If India is a bright spot in the world today and is expected to remain the fastest-growing large economy in the new year, Sitharaman, helming the Finance Ministry, is working to take the economy into a higher growth orbit.

The JNU-educated, articulate voice from the BJP, first made her mark as a party spokesperson. She was once complimented by then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for “bringing substance into TV debates”.

Sitharaman, clearly, is one of the Most Influential Women leaders today. She is sought after not only for deliberating with India Inc leaders or Industry groups but she is also entrusted by her party with undertaking campaigns and outreach programmes in Opposition-ruled states.

A Rajya Sabha member, she has earlier been a Union Commerce & Industries Minister. She has also handled the Defence Ministry.

Sitharaman is known to marshal facts and figures to make an argument. With a $ 5 trillion economy as the immediate objective and Vision 2047 as the guiding principle, FM Sitharaman’s is a very important voice in the Narendra Modi Government.