The Indian economy has been transformed from a “fragile” state to one of the largest in the world, and this is the right time to commission a white paper, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told NDTV Friday evening in her first interview since presenting the 2024 Interim Budget.

In her budget speech yesterday, the Finance Minister said she planned to commission a white paper on the performance of the economy over the 10 years of the Narendra Modi government compared to the 10 of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.

“In 2014, we took over an economy in such a bad state. There was economic paralysis and corruption… we needed a white paper then. But at the time the Prime Minister put the people first.”

“If we had brought a white paper at that time, nobody would have invested in the country looking at the fragile state of the economy,” Ms Sitharaman explained. “We took the Indian economy from ‘fragile’ to the top. This is why we are bringing in a white paper now. This is the right time.”

Ms Sitharaman’s announcement was “welcomed” by Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was the Union Finance Minister in the Manmohan Singh government from 2012 to 2014. “If a 100-page white paper comes, we will respond to that also. We are not afraid of a white paper,” he said.

Addressing reporters after the budget speech, Mr Chidambaram said he had only one condition – that the document be written by an independent body, one not affiliated with either political party (the BJP or the Congress), or government think-tank NITI Aayog, or the Ministry of Finance.

“Then let us see whose performance is better…” he told a news channel.

Meanwhile, in her interview today, Ms Sitharaman said the Modi government had focused more on empowerment in this budget than populist measures before the April/May general election. She said the absence of such measures in her budget was a nod to the confidence people have in the PM.

READ | “We Are Confident, People Firmly Believe In PM”: Nirmala Sitharaman

“We are confident because, in the last 10 years, we not only announced pro-people schemes but worked hard to execute them and make sure that every last eligible person benefitted from these policies. These beneficiaries know that we did what we promised,” Ms Sitharaman told NDTV.

On Thursday Ms Sitharaman presented the 2024 Interim Budget, in which she said the Modi government is working towards a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.

READ | “Working To Viksit Bharat By 2047”: Nirmala Sitharaman’s Interim Budget

Presenting her sixth straight budget, she underlined the need to focus on four categories of people – women, the youth, farmers, and the poor – and said their needs were the “highest priority”.

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There are more misconceptions than truth about south India in people’s minds and a development-oriented ecosystem in the region was already in existence, in which both the state governments and the Centre have played a role, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. 

In her first post-Budget interview to a private channel, the finance minister told NDTV on Friday that the education, skill and opportunity levels in the south have always been there and the number of people emigrating to foreign countries has also been high.  

To a question on the BJP’s plan for south India, a region in which it hasn’t done well, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Ms Sitharaman said in Hindi, “Development there… the ecosystem already exists. Private investment is higher than government investment, we need to face reality. The state governments and the Centre have both played a role in building the ecosystem. Human resource has also played a part… educated people, people who take an interest in science and technology.”

“Eminent people have played a role in building science and technology there. Because of this, you see phone manufacturers, IT companies, startups, the bio sector – all of this has also been mentioned in the Budget… because all of these sectors have been encouraged for some time now, private investment is being attracted there. And this is why there are more employment opportunities in technology-driven activities there and their contribution to the GDP in the services sector is higher,” she added. 

To increase the development of the region further, the finance minister said, policy support and fiscal support will also be given as needed.

“For example, why did the defence corridor go there… there were questions raised about this. But one was set up in Uttar Pradesh too. This is why we will keep both regional backwardness and regional strength in mind,” she said. 

Ghostbusters is back with fresh and familiar faces with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. On Friday, the makers dropped the film’s full-length trailer.

The trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opens with strange encounters as the Ghostbusters collect some intriguing “possessed possessions”. We find out that all of New York City is facing a paranormal crisis and the gang is ready to fight them.

Check out the trailer here:

The film follows the events of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. 

The official synopsis reads, “In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.”

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire features Paul Rudd, Bill Murray, Finn Wolfhard, Kumail Nanjiani and more.

The film will arrive in cinemas on April 19, 2024.