Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that India built economic resilience over the past decade through fiscal prudence and structural reforms. She noted that sound public finances gave the state freedom to act. The minister added that non-food credit grew 18.8% in the year to August 2026.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India's economic resilience has been built consciously over the past decade through fiscal prudence, infrastructure creation, banking reforms, last-mile delivery and sustained structural reforms, ANI reported.
"The evidence of resilience lies largely in the counterfactual, in the outcomes that did not materialise: an inflation spiral that did not take hold, queues that did not form at fuel outlets, banking stress that did not surface and a fiscal correction that was never forced," she said.
Referring to Kautilya's Arthashastra, Sitharaman cited the principle "kosha-purvah sarva-arambhah", meaning all undertakings depend first on the treasury. She said sound public finances give the State the freedom to act when economic conditions deteriorate.
Listing the foundations of resilience built since 2014, the finance minister highlighted the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity and Direct Benefit Transfer, along with initiatives such as PM Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala, Ayushman Bharat and food security measures.
She said more than 52 crore collateral-free loans had been sanctioned under the PM MUDRA Yojana. Sitharaman also pointed to banking-sector reforms and said non-food credit grew 18.8% in the year to August 2026.
She added that the national highway network had expanded by about 61% and the number of operational airports had more than doubled since 2014.
Looking ahead, Sitharaman identified strategic resource security, open and predictable global trade, skill development and greater private investment in research and innovation as key priorities.
She said the country needed to reduce fragile single-source dependencies through initiatives including the National Critical Mineral Mission, Rare Earth Corridors, India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and the development of small modular reactors.
"Resilience is not a one-time exercise," Sitharaman said, adding that India must continue strengthening its foundations to achieve higher productivity, better employment and wider opportunity on the path towards Viksit Bharat by 2047.