FM Nirmala Sitharaman shares government's priorities - it is not inflation - READ

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday shared the Modi government's priorities, saying inflation has cooled down in the last few weeks and that it is not a 'red lettered' priority. Speaking at the India Ideas Summit, she said that the Centre's priority is job creation and income distribution.

She also sought to highlight that India is taking up the G20 president-ship in challenging times when global supply chains have been damaged and geo-political equations are volatile. She added that uncertainties in the energy sector were an area of concern for the government.

"There are huge uncertainties over availability of crude, natural gas and coal due to the Russia-Ukraine war," she said.

Sitharaman said that like many other nations, India too will have to rely more on coal in the near future due to global uncertainties and supply chain disruptions.

The Finance Minister said that India`s plan to shift to renewable energy has received a jolt and ways to reduce coal dependency and return to eco-friendly energy resources, need to be devices.

On policy issues, she further said that the National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) needs to be more robust.

The Union Minister also said that the government is keen to bring the Data Protection Bill.

On Tuesday, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the Centre would soon bring a completely new version of the bill.

With IANS inputs