65 pc more FDI during Modi regime: Nirmala

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said FDI into the country during the Modi government was USD 500.5 billion, which is 65 per cent more than the amount received in the 10 years of the UPA government, as investors have trusted the economic management of the current regime.

Replying to the discussion on the Finance Bill, 2022, and Appropriation Bill, 2022, the minister said India continues to remain among the top five foreign direct investment recipient countries in the world, as per a UNCTAD report. The FDI inflow in 2020-21 was USD 81.72 billion compared to USD 74.9 billion in the preceding financial year. Despite the covid pandemic, she said the government did not resort to taxes for resource mobilisation and no tax was increased to fund the economic recovery. On the other hand, as per an OECD report, as many as 32 countries had resorted to an increase in their tax rates to fund their economic recoveries. Sitharaman also highlighted that the war between Russia and Ukraine is affecting all countries like the pandemic had. The finance minister also said Rs 8.35 lakh crore has been devolved to states from central taxes in the current fiscal, higher than the revised estimate of Rs 7.45 lakh crore for 2021-22.

Seeking to puncture the Aam Aadmi Party's 'ideal budget' for Delhi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said budget making is simple when the state does not have to pay for police, defence and farm sector, and asserted that instead of lecturing, the expenditure on full-page advertisements to promote Kejriwal government should also be counted.

Replying to the debate on Budget in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said, "There is no expenditure of police, army (defence) and on farmers because central government takes care of it. Therefore, budget (of Delhi Government) is good." She also stated that the central government does not give full page advertisement in newspapers. "If that budget (funds) are saved then it could be used for the pollution issue of Delhi. Do I need to learn that? They are lecturing us that we should learn from our budget or some else document," she stated. She noted AAP leader comments that look at Aam Aadmi Party Budget (of Delhi Government), it will tell you how one can make a good budget. "Had I learned from that budget my defence, farm and police budget would have been funded by someone else. It is easy to make a budget then," Sitharaman said.