Replying to a discussion on the Appropriation Bill 2026 in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said the government’s deft economic management has ensured there are “no severe shocks” despite fresh external challenges occurring almost regularly since the 2020 pandemic outbreak.
“I would like to highlight the fact that India’s economy today stands at a position of strength and we are able to look after even the unforeseen circumstances,” she said.
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Before the Iran war, the economy has absorbed the shocks stemming from the pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, spike in global inflation due to stimulus packages extended by advanced economies, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, debt crisis in some poor and developing nations, and trade wars, the minister said. “So, the position of the Indian economy is what gives us the strength to meet these unforeseen problems,” she added.
Parliament has cleared the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for the current fiscal, which will enable the government to spend an additional ₹2.01 lakh crore, with the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday returning the Appropriation Bill to the Lok Sabha. The lower house had approved the demands for grants on March 13. Sitharaman stressed that persistent increase in the government’s capital spending-from ₹2.63 lakh crore in FY18 to a budgeted ₹12.20 lakh crore for FY27-has helped the economy, thanks to the high multiplier effect of such productive spending.
LPG supply
The minister asserted that efforts have been made to ramp up LPG supply in the country by expanding domestic capacity.
She said nearly 65% of India’s LPG requirement is imported, and about 90% of it comes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been targeted by Iran, leading to the current crisis across nations.
“We are ramping up domestic capacities to supply LPG and domestic LPG production is going up about 25% approximately. The entire output of this ramped up capacity is going for domestic consumers to ensure that households don’t suffer,” she said.
The government is ensuring that shipping lines are able to transport Indian imports, she added.
BSNL issues
The minister refuted the opposition’s criticism of leading BSNL to failure.
The Modi government, she said, has actually lent a fresh lease of life to the state-run telecom service provider by providing three revival packages totalling ₹3.22 lakh crore, while the previous UPA government had pushed BSNL into a critical condition.
“It was in the ICU, and we have revived it and brought it back on track,” she said.
Also read: Govt gets Parliament nod for Rs 2.01 lakh crore additional spending in FY26
Past liabilities
The minister said the UPA government had resorted to off-budget borrowings to mask actual fiscal deficit-a practice that the current government has stopped.
Had these borrowings been shown in the budget, the fiscal deficit during the UPA period would have been significantly higher than reported, she claimed.