Viksit Bharat: FM Sitharaman-led meet concludes with focus on financing

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) The first meeting -- led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman -- of the Conference of State Finance Ministers and Finance Secretaries of States and Union Territories with the Legislature  concluded here on Saturday with discussions focusing on financing India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat. 

The two-day conference -- held on the theme ‘Financing India’s Journey towards Viksit Bharat -- brought together representatives from the Centre and states to deliberate on key issues related to financing the country’s development priorities, the Finance Ministry said.

The discussions featured insights from experts including Dr Sajjid Z. Chinoy, Dr Samiran Chakraborty, Professor Ashima Goyal and Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, among others.

Moreover, the sessions covered a range of issues, including the macroeconomic outlook, financing agricultural transformation and financing the energy transition.

According to the Finance Ministry, the deliberations provided a deeper understanding of the challenges ahead while highlighting opportunities on India’s path towards becoming a Viksit Bharat.

The ministry said the conference reflected the spirit of ‘Team India with the Union and state governments working together towards the shared vision of Viksit Bharat.

On the first day, Anuradha Thakur, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Ministry of Finance highlighted that this first-of-its-kind Conference adopts a longer-term and broader canvas, bringing together issues related to public & private finance, assembling experts from academia, industry, banking and policymaking States shared their perspectives and underscored that the journey towards Viksit Bharat rests on deep complementarities and multi-tiered partnership between the Union & the States.

Moreover, N.K. Singh, President and Life Trustee, Institute of Economic Growth, and Chairman, 15th Finance Commission (XVFC), highlighted in his key note address that India’s strong macroeconomic foundation, and noted the 7.8 per cent GDP growth in Q1 of FY 2026–27 and the recent upgrade by Japan Credit Rating Agency from BBB+ to A-.

Earlier in September, a report said that India Inc is increasingly aligning the ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ vision with their business strategies and disclosures, with aerospace and defence, automobiles and banking emerging as the strongest sectors to meet the national development agenda.

--IANS

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