MUMBAI: The government will continue to support growth by undertaking capital expenditure until private sector investment increases, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.
Speaking at an event organised by HSBC here, she said the government accords top priority to fiscal prudence and will continue to play the balancing act by being "creative" in continuing spending while pushing growth with capex.
"Capex is a very important component of our growth strategy because till such a time when the private sector is also going to come in and expand capacities or establish newer capacities, it is important for the government to push through with the capital expenditure," she said.
This strategy has borne very good results over the last four-five years, and the growth multipliers have actually worked to the economy's benefit, she said. "We are happy to extend that we will continue doing that because India's growth momentum should not be lost out at all," Sitharaman said.
She, however, underlined that it is very important to be fiscally prudent and termed it a top priority for the government. "We will have to be prudent, but we will have to be creative in which we can encourage growth and spend."
With the economy continuing to grow at over 7 per cent, the finance minister requested all Indians to speak with a lot of confidence about the country, asserting that there is no fragility and activity on the ground is robust.
"We will have to speak with a lot of confidence about India. That is my request," Sitharaman said.
Pointing to the strong GST collections and the strength in India's banks, she said, "Instrumental pillars of fundamental economic well-being are all doing alright; there is no fragility."
She rued that even discerning voices sometimes speak with some bit of scepticism, and asked for a change in the language.
"India needs a lot of optimism, India needs a lot of conversing with optimism, India needs a reduction in cynicism. India needs to voice that we believe in ourselves," Sitharaman said.
Despite all the challenges like the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz, fuel is reaching us on time, she said.
The minister said skilling youth with artificial intelligence (AI) is a very important aspect, and proposed imparting AI skills at the district level. Sitharaman said even the students completing engineering degrees do not match up to skills required by the industry, and the industrial training institutes are not doing so well.
She suggested labs that can impart artificial intelligence and information technology training, along with hardware training.
Recalling a budget initiative to revive industrial training institutes (ITIs) announced two years back, Sitharaman said states that have adopted such measures have benefited a lot.
Assam and Odisha have tied up with the Singapore government to launch training certified by their government, she said, adding that one batch has also gone to the Southeast Asian country.