'Chidambaram Remembering His Days': Piyush Goyal On 'will Never Spend Budget' Claim

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal responded to Congress leader P Chidambaram who said that the Centre will never be able to spend the amount allocated in the Union Budget 2023. Speaking to Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, Goyal said "I feel sad Mr. Chidambaram does not have the confidence in the people in India, in the businesses in India".

"But I want to assure you and your viewers that the current year budget is well on its way to be spent", Goyal said. He also admitted that delays in infrastructure projects have been a historical legacy but added that "every one of us is extremely committed to spending that money".

#PerfectBudget | I feel very sad that Chidambaram has no confidence in people of India and the business in India: Textiles, Commerce, Consumer Affairs Minister @PiyushGoyal Joins Arnab #LIVE on the debate - https://t.co/Ro2CVTy1BV pic.twitter.com/IhxtoG33Y4

— Republic (@republic) February 1, 2023

'Chidambaram remembers his days': Goyal

The Union Minister said that there is a high-level ministerial meeting every month to review the spending and stated that Chidambaram might be actually remembering his days. "I think Mr. Chidambaram sadly remembers his days. I remember every year by September-October they would cut some budget, by December they would say don't sell beyond 60%, by March they would run out of money", Goyal said. 

"Our government has always underpromised and overperformed. So on revenue, we are very conservative, year after year we exceed the revenue except for the COVID year. So our effort and approaches strengthen the country and in that, we are also focused on strengthening our capacity to spend", the Minister added. Underscoring the crucial role Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme would play in developing the infrastructure, Goyal said that "the country is creating a foundation for the Amrit Kaal and this budget is going to play a huge role in setting the direction in which India is going to go forward". 

When asked about how Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman kept a business-like approach for this budget free from freebies, Goyal said that the credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who never allowed anyone to take a decision keeping elections in mind. Goyal revealed that PM Modi directed everyone to serve every part of India without any discrimination.