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Monday, December 15, 2025
TopicNirmala Sitharaman

Topic: Nirmala Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman is an Indian politician with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), and has served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs since 2019 (this is as of March 2024). In the first Modi government, Sitharaman served as the Minister of Defence between 2017 and 2019, thereby becoming India’s second female defence minister and the second female finance minister after Indira Gandhi, and the first full-time female minister to hold each of those portfolios.

Sitharaman first joined the BJP in 2004 and was appointed party spokesperson six years later. She was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2014. While presenting her first budget, she made a statement by replacing the traditional budget briefcase with a ‘bahi-khata’ with the National Emblem to carry the speech and other documents.

Budget 2024 shows Nirmala Sitharaman is fiscally prudent, bold, and politically savvy

A K Bhattacharya -
As for the long-term vision of the Budget, there are some reassuring messages from the finance minister.

Budget 2024 signals rigour in farm policymaking, govt openness to align with states on reforms

Shweta Saini -
Nirmala Sitharaman's speech marks a shift toward a more collaborative, transparent, and strategic policymaking. But Budget 2024 has its share of hits and misses.

Budget 2024 stays clear of populism, continues to create a path for fiscal consolidation

Mukesh Butani -
The ‘Vivad se Vishwas' scheme 2024 will provide a fresh opportunity for taxpayers who, in the absence of the settlement commission, had no options but to litigate.

Budget’s MSME push: Mudra loan limit enhanced to Rs 20L, new credit rating mechanism for smaller units

Yuthika Bhargava -
Turnover threshold of buyers for mandatory onboarding on TReDS platform will be slashed from Rs 500 crore to Rs 250 crore, finance minister announces.

Budget 2024: Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture & allied sectors, emphasis on natural farming

Yuthika Bhargava -
Centre, in partnership with states, will implement Digital Public Infrastructure in agriculture to cover farmers & their lands in three years, says FM Sitharaman.

Govt to partner with private sector to set up small nuclear reactors, says FM in budget speech

Zenaira Bakhsh -
Creating small and modular reactors indicates a departure from traditional large-scale nuclear plants, thus offering more cost-effective and flexible power solutions.

Budget has complex political message. It shows BJP ko BASE pasand hai

Shekhar Gupta -
If there’s anything this budget lacks in, it’s economic messaging. There are no wide statements of reform, no mention of privatisation, disinvestment, no big tax cuts, incentives, deregulation.

Modi govt’s Budget 2024 plays unabashed appeasement politics—after borrowing Congress ideas

Praveen Chakravarty -
Nirmala Sitharaman finally acknowledged the jobs emergency in her Budget 2024 speech, but the plans to provide employment for four crore youth over five years is characteristic Modi govt bombast.

‘Kursi-bachao’ budget of Modi govt ‘copied’ ideas from our Lok Sabha manifesto, says Congress

Neelam Pandey -
Congress highlighted internship programme, employment-linked incentive scheme and abolition of angel tax as examples of ideas Modi govt ‘copied’ from its Lok Sabha polls manifesto.

Budget 2024-25: FM announces Rs 10 lakh-cr for housing for poor & middle-class families in urban areas

Sampurna Panigrahi -
Sitharaman also announced an initiative for increased connectivity to rural habitations, and introduced an interest subsidy to facilitate affordable housing loans.
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Opinion

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Economy

India’s merchandise exports to US rising month-on-month despite Trump tariffs, govt data shows

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November exports to the US saw 10% growth from the previous month. Overall, in the first 8 months this fiscal, the merchandise exports to the US touched has touched $59bn.

Defence

US clears $686-mn package to breathe fresh life into Pakistani F-16s

Vaibhav Pant -
Of the total package, $649 million will be utilised for additional hardware, software, and support services, and the remaining for Major Defence Equipment (MDE).

National Interest

India’s top airline just handed sarkar the keys. That’s IndiGo’s real ‘crime’

Shekhar Gupta -
Don’t blame misfortune. This is colossal incompetence and insensitivity. So bad, heads would have rolled even in the old PSU-era Indian Airlines and Air India.

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