Tue Feb 18 10:15:31 UTC 2025: ## Kharge Slams Government’s Economic Claims Amidst Market Downturn
**New Delhi, February 18, 2025** – Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge today sharply criticized Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s assertion that the Indian economy is performing well, calling it “ironical.” He accused the Modi government of mishandling the economy, citing a series of negative indicators.
Kharge highlighted a ₹45 lakh crore loss in Indian stock markets in 2025, the worst quarterly profit growth for Nifty 50 firms in five years, and over ₹1.56 lakh crore in foreign investor sell-offs since October, including nearly ₹1 lakh crore this year. He linked this to a weakened rupee (at 87), a soaring trade deficit (with imports up 62.21% in five years), and a disastrous trade policy.
He further contrasted export growth under the UPA government (549.36% from 2004-2014) with the Modi government’s performance (24.72% from 2014-2024). Kharge also criticized the government for forgoing ₹10 lakh crore in corporate tax revenue over the past decade, arguing that this failed to generate jobs, with eight out of nine beneficiaries reducing their workforce.
Kharge painted a bleak picture of the Indian economy, citing a looming global tariff war, a struggling manufacturing sector, the failure of “Make in India” and PLI schemes, high youth unemployment, rising prices, falling consumption, stagnant rural wages, and a 43% rupee depreciation in the last 10 years.
Sitharaman, in contrast, attributed recent foreign institutional investor (FII) sell-offs to profit-booking, claiming the Indian economy is yielding good returns for investors. However, Kharge’s statement directly challenges this assessment, painting a drastically different picture of the current economic climate.
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