"INDIA'S INFRASTRUCTURE PUSH QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT FROM CHINA'S"

Union Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan opens up about a range of issues pertaining to the economy and policy, from the government's focus on infrastructure, cuts in food and fertiliser subsidy and job creation to the basic differences in India and China's approach to infra growth

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DURING his post-Budget tour to different parts of the country (six in all, the last being to Sikkim), Union Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan heard one constant refrain: “When the government is accelerating capital expenditure rapidly, why is the private sector investment not keeping pace?”

Somanthan, the chief architect to have assisted Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in preparing the Union Budget, and whose team is working overtime to consolidate the gains made by the Indian economy postpandemic, recently interacted with BW Businessworld and answered questions on the economy and policy.

Asked if infrastructure has been the centrepiece of the Narendra Modi government, and not just this year’s Budget, he said: “In the first four or five years, between 2014 to 2019, there was a push on infrastructure, but there was an even greater thrust on essential items of consumption for the poor — such as toilets, cooking gas, electricity, access to healthcare for the poor. Those were the first set and the accent on infrastructure was always there. But (the thrust on infrastructure) has become more pronounced in the last three years.”

Focus on Biggest Deficit Areas