Middle class expanded, economy grew: Finance Minister

Naysayers who claim the Indian economy is dead are mocking at the people of India, who are contributing to India’s growth, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Thursday while replying to the debate on the general Budget in Rajya Sabha. She said growth without inflation is an achievement of the entire country. “That is, you are having a good, high rate of growth of the GDP, and there is a low inflation, which is being held at that kind of a level continuously,” she said.

Apparently referring to a recent statement of Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi that the country’seconomy is dead, she said there is no way anyone can decry saying, “Oh no, but this economy is probably dead. “This economy is not really doing well. These kinds of nay-sayers are only mocking at the people of India, who are really doing their bit to contribute to India’s growth,” the Finance Minister added.

She said high growth and low inflation is a unique balance in the economy and it was not a rare coincidence as the Union Government undertook tremendous efforts, detailed planning and timely action to achieve this milestone. “This gives us the confidence for planning for next two decades,” she said.

She countered the charges that middle class is being suppressed to achieve high tax collection. “There is no evidence of middle-class suppression. Actually, there is enough and more evidence of historic middle-class expansion and formalisation driven by the economic reforms that have been undertaken in the last ten years. High personal income tax collection is not necessarily the middle class being crushed,” she said.

The Finance Minister said there are more people with taxable income and more income is visible in the formal sector. “So, the economy is no longer narrow, and it’s not just confined to the elite. The middle-class basket is widening. Between 2013-14 and 2024-25, the number of taxpayers, that is, people filing returns or TDS deducted, rose from 5.26 crore to 12.13 crore,” she said claiming the largest structural expansion of the middle class in this country. “People are coming on board to pay, and coming on board to pay not because we are bringing more rates,” she said.

She said inflation is also at a historical low. “So, somewhere middle class suppressed cannot coexist with real incomes rising and with record low inflation. And there is an upward mobility of the workforce as well,” she said.