India remains an island of relative calm amid global turmoil: FM

Bengaluru: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said Indian economy is an island of relative calm in a challenging global environment. She was speaking at the inaugural session of 'Invest Karnataka, 2022 Summit' which kickstarted in the city from November 2.

"Between 2020 and today, we seem to have come out to a situation where the challenges continue, the newer challenges are also building up. There is a global situation of war, especially from countries which are a source of raw materials, whether it is fuel, fertilizers or food related raw materials," the Finance Minister said addressing the event. "While this is causing a lot of insecurity in the world and while the challenges continue, India is being seen as an island of certain level of calm," she added. She credited the policies of the central government ensured relative insulation from global events. Government's careful planning, targeted facilitation, fiscal prudence, and understanding of the Indian economy ensured that Indian economy could carefully navigate through these challenges, she said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the event virtually and said that new India is focusing on bold reforms, big infrastructure and best talent. He said at this time of global economic uncertainty, the whole world is confident that the Indian economy's fundamentals are strong.

"It's that place where there is both tradition and technology. It's that place where there is a unique confluence of nature and culture. When we talk of talent and technology, the first thing that comes to mind is brand Bengaluru," PM Modi said extolling the city, which has got a moniker of 'Silicon Valley of India'.

Meanwhile, the event also saw participation of Union Ministers of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

During the summit, Karnataka government signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs5.20 lakh crore with various industries.

"I have heard from the chief minister (Basavaraj Bommai) that initially when this global meet was planned, their expectations and target was somewhere in the range of Rs 5 lakh crore. Today, that has moved upwards to about Rs 7.5 lakh crore, of which he has already cleared Rs 2.8 lakh crore related proposals," FM, Sitharaman said.

Karnataka is leading in the country in terms of software exports with most domestic and global companies having centres here. Bengaluru is also home to India's largest number of startups. However, the city is facing stiff competition of other centres like Pune, Noida, and Hyderabad among others in terms of new investment flow in recent years.

Between 2020 and today, we seem to have come out to a situation where the challenges continue, the newer challenges are also building up. There is a global situation of war, especially from countries which are a source of raw materials, whether it is fuel, fertilizers or food related raw materials. While this is causing a lot of insecurity in the world and while the challenges continue, India is being seen as an island of certain level of calm

- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman