New Delhi. The echo of the opposition’s allegations in the Lok Sabha had not even subsided when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman changed the whole game in one stroke. “The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer!” This slogan was raised by opposition MP Deepender Singh Hooda, but Finance Minister Sitharaman called it a ‘wrong analysis’ on the basis of consumption data figures. Through the data tabled in the Parliament, it was told that not only the wealth of the poor is increasing rapidly, but the gap of inequality in both rural and urban areas is shrinking. Is this claim just political rhetoric or reality? Let us understand from the Finance Minister’s arguments and figures how India’s economy is moving from ‘fragility’ to ‘resilience’.
During the discussion on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Deepender Hooda alleged that income inequality in the last decade has broken a 100-year record. He claimed that the economy is ‘dead’, the current account deficit is at its peak and the debt burden has become unbearable. Citing US President Donald Trump’s alleged ‘dead economy’ statement, Hooda cornered the government. But Finance Minister Sitharaman, in her reply given on December 15, not only rejected these claims, but also proved from the data of Household Consumption Survey that the pace of property acquisition by the bottom 40 percent of the population is much faster than the top 20 percent.
Motor vehicles, refrigerators, mobile phones increased
Sitharaman said, “This is not a record breaking of income inequality, but a proof of inclusive development.” According to household consumption data between 2011-12 and 2023-24, motor vehicle ownership among the bottom 40 percent of households in rural areas jumped from 6.2 percent to 47.1 percent, a seven-fold increase. Ownership of refrigerators increased from 2.9 percent to 22.5 percent (eightfold), while mobile phone usage increased from 66.5 percent to 94.3 percent. The Finance Minister said, “These figures show that there has been a tremendous increase in the purchasing power of the poor, which challenges the wrong analysis of the opposition.”
The picture is even more interesting in urban India. For the first time, television ownership among the bottom 40 percent of urban households (77.4 percent) has exceeded that of the top 20 percent (72.1 percent). The gap in ownership of aspirational goods like refrigerators reduced from 46.3 percentage points in 2011-12 to just 12 percentage points in 2023-24. Asset poverty, i.e. the proportion of the rural poor who do not own any major asset, fell from 30 percent to just 5 percent. Sitharaman explained that growth in the last decade has been widespread, with people at the grassroots level rapidly acquiring wealth. “These are not just statistics, they are proof of the changing lives of millions of families,” he said in Parliament.
Current account deficit claim also rejected
The Finance Minister also termed the claim of Current Account Deficit (CAD) as ‘factually incorrect’. Hooda had described it at ‘double digit’ level, but Sitharaman presented figures for June 2025, in which CAD was only 0.2 percent of GDP. In the financial year 2024-25, it stood at 0.6 percent, whereas during the ‘taper tantrum’ period of 2013, it was 4.8 percent (highest since 1970). By comparison, he said, “In 2013, 96.1 percent of foreign exchange reserves were dependent on floating capital, today it is 66.6 percent. Import coverage increased from 7 months to 11.4 months.” This change makes India stronger from external risks, not weaker.
What did the Finance Minister say on the debt burden?
Sitharaman also showed the mirror to the opposition on the debt burden. The debt-GDP ratio of the central government was 52.2 percent in 2013-14, which dropped to 48.9 percent in 2018-19. It climbed to 61.4 percent due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but fell to 57.1 percent in 2023-24 and an estimated 56.1 percent by the end of this year. He said, “We adopted the path of fiscal consolidation, which is the result of the strict monitoring of Prime Minister Modi.” Also, he expressed concern over the debt-GSDP ratio of the states. Without taking names, he said that many states are in a worrying situation on this front. Both the Center and the state will have to control it together.
Counterattack on Make for India statement also
Sitharaman countered Hooda’s statement that ‘Make in India’ was ‘Make for India’ with production and export figures. Electronics production to increase from Rs 1.9 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs 11.3 lakh crore in 2024-25. Mobile phone manufacturing units increased from two to 300, production increased 28 times and exports increased 127 times. The Finance Minister said, “India is now a net exporter in pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and defence. This is proof of ‘Making for the World’.”
Sitharaman also termed the opposition’s claim of IMF’s ‘C-grade’ on GDP data as wrong. He clarified, “India’s grading remains stable at ‘B’, there has been no downgrade. This will improve when the base year is changed to 2011-12 from January 2026.” Comparing the average growth rate of the last 10 years, he said that NDA’s 7.5 percent (despite Covid) is better than UPA’s 6.1 percent. “Trump’s statement may be political, but 8.2 per cent quarterly growth (compared to global 3.2 per cent) and credit upgrades by agencies like S&P, DBRS belie the dead economy.”
