Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said India's economic resilience has been built consciously over the past decade through fiscal prudence, infrastructure creation, banking reforms, last-mile delivery and sustained structural reforms, ANI reported.
Addressing the 5th Kautilya Economic Conclave, Sitharaman said economic resilience meant the ability to absorb shocks without losing the growth trajectory while retaining enough policy space to respond to future disruptions.
"The evidence of resilience lies largely in the counterfactual, in the outcomes that did not materialise: an inflation spiral that did not take hold, queues that did not form at fuel outlets, banking stress that did not surface and a fiscal correction that was never forced," she said.
Referring to Kautilya's Arthashastra, Sitharaman cited the principle "kosha-purvah sarva-arambhah", meaning all undertakings depend first on the treasury. She said sound public finances give the State the freedom to act when economic conditions deteriorate.
India's economic resilience
Sitharaman said India had navigated the shocks of the past four years while keeping its economic fundamentals intact. She cited 7.8% real GDP growth in the first quarter of FY27, CPI inflation of 4.82% in August 2026, a current account deficit of 0.5% of GDP in Q1 and foreign exchange reserves of about $766 billion.
Listing the foundations of resilience built since 2014, the finance minister highlighted the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity and Direct Benefit Transfer, along with initiatives such as PM Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala, Ayushman Bharat and food security measures.
She said more than 52 crore collateral-free loans had been sanctioned under the PM MUDRA Yojana. Sitharaman also pointed to banking-sector reforms and said non-food credit grew 18.8% in the year to August 2026.
Infrastructure, private investment in focus
On infrastructure development, Sitharaman said capital expenditure for FY27 had been budgeted at ₹12.22 lakh crore.
She added that the national highway network had expanded by about 61% and the number of operational airports had more than doubled since 2014.
Looking ahead, Sitharaman identified strategic resource security, open and predictable global trade, skill development and greater private investment in research and innovation as key priorities.
She said the country needed to reduce fragile single-source dependencies through initiatives including the National Critical Mineral Mission, Rare Earth Corridors, India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and the development of small modular reactors.
"Resilience is not a one-time exercise," Sitharaman said, adding that India must continue strengthening its foundations to achieve higher productivity, better employment and wider opportunity on the path towards Viksit Bharat by 2047.
