Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday effectively endorsed the opinion of finance secretary T.V. Somanathan that the Adani crisis was a mere "storm in a tea cup". In response to a question from the FPJ at her press conference in Mumbai, Sitharaman said Somanathan himself had earlier clarified that his statement was to be seen in a macro economic perspective.
The FM was addressing a press conference after her post-budget outreach with an assortment of businessmen. Somanathan and other senior officials of the Union finance minister accompanied her.
FM breaks silence on Adani-Hindenberg saga
Sitharaman said in so many words that the Modi government had nothing to do with the huge crisis confronting Adani Enterprises Ltd, which was forced to refund the monies invested in its FPO on Wednesday, a day after the company closed the offer successfully.
The company had taken a huge hit after the Hindenberg report, which had accused it of a slew of financial frauds which were denied by the company. However, Hindenberg responded by pointing out that AEL had not replied to most of the questions raised by it.
The FM made it clear that it was the job of the regulators like SEBI, RBI and other bodies to handle the crisis. She noted that all these regulatory authorities were "independent" bodies and that the government had no role in their functioning.
She gave the impression that the government was satisfied with the regulatory authorities handling of the crisis. She pointed out that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the State Bank of India (SBI), the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and other entities had issued statements explaining their exposure to the Adani group.
The Minister made the assertions at a post-budget press conference in Mumbai, watch the full interaction below:
When asked if the refund of the FPO would adversely impact India's image in the global financial market, she shot back by stating that in the past also FPO amounts have been refunded and that did not affect the image of the nation abroad. She pointed out that in the past two days alone India had received foreign funding to the tune of $8 billion. She and the officials accompanying her projected the image a resilient economy strong enough to withstand the Adani crisis, specially in view of the regulatory mechanisms in place.
Post-Budget outreach programmes across India
Sitharaman said the post-budget outreach programmes will be held in several cities across the country. She said the practice was started last year following a suggestion from PM Modi. She said the main effort of the budgetary exercise was to ensure "fiscal consolidation" and at the same time keep the "recovery momentum" going post the havoc caused to the economy by the pandemic. She said India was among the few nations which had successfully emerged out of the post-pandemic situation.
Fadnavis thanks Centre for Budget 2023
Earlier, representatives of several business bodies like FICCI, ASSOCHAM and the Bombay Chamber of Commerce complimented the minister for presenting a positive budget. They also made several industry-specific suggestions which were responded to by senior officials of the finance department accompanying the FM on the dais. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was also present, thanked the Centre for the large allocations to the states and said it was up to the states to make maximum utilisation of these funds.
Responding to a query, Sitharaman said problem of handling waste in urban areas was a huge challenge. She assured the state of its fully support in this regard. She recalled the example of the Erode textile hub in Tamil Nadu where the dyes had badly polluted Bhavani river. Following the disbursement of funds from the Centre, extensive effluent treatment plans were installed and the water of the river was potable again.
