FM Sitharaman to investors: 'Don't be jittery, PM Modi coming back with good majority'

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that global investors need not be "jittery" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come back to power in 2024 with a "good majority". "Keeping their (investors) fingers crossed is normal and I can understand that. But here I am and also there are several people who are observing the Indian economy, observing the political environment, observing the ground-level realities and the situation as it prevails today, Prime Minister Modi is coming back and coming back with a good majority," she said while speaking in a virtual debate organised by India Global Forum.

The general election is due to be held early next year, and Prime Minister Modi hopes to win for the third straight term after the first in 2014 and the second in 2019. In the past nine years, the Modi government has carried out several reforms to increase formalisation of the economy and improve the business environment in the country.

Sitharaman said the central government is committed to systemic reforms to accelerate the pace of economic growth. She also said that the Modi government has worked for everybody and the Indian economy was growing at a fast pace amid the current global scenario.

In October, the World Bank said India's economic growth will remain resilient despite global challenges. It said despite significant global challenges, India was one of the fastest-growing major economies in FY22-23 at 7.2 per cent. India's growth rate was the second highest among G20 countries and almost twice the average for emerging market economies, the global lender said in its latest India Development Update (IDU).

The World Bank has predicted India's GDP growth for FY23-24 to be at 6.3 per cent, higher than China's but lower than its own number from FY22-23. The expected moderation is mainly due to challenging external conditions and waning pent-up demand. However, service sector activity is expected to remain strong with growth of 7.4 per cent and investment growth is also projected to remain robust at 8.9 per cent.

During the debate, the finance minister was asked about the impact of the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza on the India-Middle East-Europe Connectivity Corridor (IMEC), which was signed at the 18th G-20 Summit held in New Delhi in September.

"The IMEC has long-term considerations. IMEC is not going to be dependent on one or the other major event of concern," she said, adding that the proposed corridor is going to be pursued because India has very good relations with the Middle East built very carefully by Prime Minister Modi.

The IMEC, a multimodal economic corridor, will connect Indian ports such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Mundra (Gujarat), and Kandla (Gujarat), with West Asian ones such as Fujairah, Jebel Ali, and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Saudi Arabian ports of Dammam, Ras Al Khair, and Ghuwaifat.

Then there is a rail segment that will continue the IMEC and provide connection to the Saudi Arabian cities of Haradh and Al Haditha, onward to the port of Haifa in Israel. The final segment, which some call the Northern Corridor, will once again be a maritime segment connecting the port of Haifa to the Greek port of Piraeus and there to Europe.

(With inputs from PTI)