INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ms Sitharaman said that the government is focusing on smart cities.Amidst criticism over a free fall in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
growth rate, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that the government is committed to take up further reform measures in the
economy.Speaking at the India-Sweden Business Summit, Ms Sitharaman noted that the government had recently reduced the corporate tax rate
and the Centre is in interaction with the business community.There were many more steps which the government will take going further, she
said.Ms Sitharaman, who is in the middle of a storm of falling GDP and the consequent criticism, said that the government was responding to
a challenging time.In the past few months, the government has announced a slew of measures including corporate rate tax cut and ease in
lowest growth rate in six years
Although the Minister told the Rajya Sabha last month that the economy is going through a slowdown, she added that the situation is not
recessionary at all.Talking of the prospects, India provides to businesses, Ms Sitharaman said that India has great prospects with a large
middle-class population and huge consumption.She reiterated the government's budget commitment of spending Rs 100 lakh crore on public
infrastructure in the next five years.The Minister also added that as the government is focusing on smart cities, the Swedish companies can
also engage themselves in the smart city initiative.
