Davos 2024: India's debt management wins praise from investors, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw (L) and Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth (R) at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 18.

Highlighting the praise India has received from investors for maintaining healthy balance sheets, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on January 18 said the country has distinguished itself by prudently avoiding excessive debt.

Speaking to Moneycontrol on the sidelines of World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Vaishnaw said, "People have also noticed the steps taken for making sure that the (India's) bank balance sheets are healthy. Many of the mistakes which many countries have done by putting too much debt on the balance sheets, that has not been done by India."

"What's striking is they (investors) all understand today, the policy framework that Prime Minister (Modi) has laid out and clearly executed. People understand the impact of investment in infrastructure, how it is going to improve productivity," the IT minister said.

"Everybody has noted the inclusive growth. Our prime minister has always emphasised on people at the bottom of the pyramid. Their lives are improving, and that is giving us sustainable growth," he added.

He claimed that the belief among the investment community, based on over 50 decisions that he had till now, was that "India is going to grow consistently at a 6-8 percent growth rate over the decade."

Vaishnaw also spoke on India's semiconductor policy and pointed out how leaders in the ecosystem has lauded the country's framework. The minister also said that India must focus and excel at both semiconductor design and manufacturing.

He also touched upon the menace of deepfakes, and categorically said that India will have stricter regulation to address the issue.

"We really need to now move to a policy framework in which the social media platforms, start taking responsibility for what they are publishing," Vaishnaw said.