At the India Today and Business Today Budget Round Table 2023, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw defended the PLI scheme for semiconductor production in India. He said nobody should take a person seriously who says don't promote manufacturing in this country
Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan believes that the incentives to industries where large firms are anyway going to make investments are pure freebies. Rajan thinks that firms will leave India once the scheme is over
In a conversation with Rahul Kanwal, News Director, India Today & Aaj Tak, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that Raghuram Rajan was always for increasing credit but after May 2014, he totally changed his stance. “When people marry economics with politics, their views change,” quipped Vaishnaw
Ashiwni Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & IT, said that Rajan was giving politically coloured arguments due to his affiliation with a particular party. Vaishnaw said, “Had he been a neutral economist, I would like to get into a debate with him.”
On bullet trains, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that 140 km of pillars have been cast, 28 km of girders have been laid. He added, “All the 8 rivers, the bridges have reached deck level. At all the 13 stations, the work is going on.”
Asked about more bullet trains in India, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the government has absorbed the technology and has understood the construction methods and design. He added, “Now we can take on more projects.”
Sharing progress on the semiconductor front, Ashwini Vaishnaw said that there was a very strong reaction by chip majors for India. He said some real semiconductor majors will come to India in a few months
IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that no one except the government should issue any currency, so crypto as a currency was a clear no. He added that cryptocurrency as a technology, is what should be promoted
In a session with BT TV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi at India Today and Business Today Budget Round Table 2023, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan refuted reports of cutbacks in the Union Budget 2023 allocation for education
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government will be spending Rs 1,25,000 crore on education and other knowledge verticals. He added, “This is the highest-ever for education since Independence.”