Sitharaman Defends Budget Tax and Spending Plans

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her first media interview after presenting her ninth Budget at noon on Monday, defended tax increases on derivatives and secondary-market sovereign gold bond transactions and outlined customs simplifications and urban and rural allocations. She affirmed confidence in meeting an 11.73% projected income-tax growth, explained capital expenditure timing tied to states' utilisation certificates, and highlighted ₹95,692 crore for VB-GRAMG plus ₹1,000 crore per city annually under a five-year urban programme.