Debate on freebies important as this will impact future growth: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday said it was important to debate freebies as these will impact the future growth and revenue of certain states, while taking a dig at political parties offering free power at the cost of taxpayers' money or having to undertake extra borrowing or impose fresh taxes.

The minister it was important to discuss as good governance was about how much you value taxpayers money.

"If I don't debate freebies, will it not impact future growth, Will it not affect certain revenues of certain states or the centre," Sitharaman said, delivering the NTR memorial lecture in Visakhapatnam.


She asserted that governance was no longer a leaky bucket unlike in the past.

"We have contained the leaky bucket process. There are no leaks and the beneficiary who should get that money gets it and not just 15 paise out of a rupee...That's because the technology has come up," Sitharaman said. Speaking at a separate function in Kakinada, Sitharaman stressed on the need to remove certain taxes which are impacting exports and the new export policy would help the exporters by offering incentives.