'Laboured and tortuous': Chidambaram on Sitharaman's reply to capex query

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P. Chidambaram on Tuesday said Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a "tortuous" explanation to his question about capital expenditure and asserted that the numbers "conclusively" proved that there was a "cut" in capex during 2024-25.

Chidambaram said this in a statement late last evening while responding to the answers given by Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha.

The former Union finance minister said Sitharaman has given a "laboured and tortuous" explanation to a simple question on what was the Budget estimate for capital expenditure in the 2024-25 Budget, and what is the estimate at the end of year.

"There is a reduction (cut), and I asked in the Rajya Sabha what are the reasons for the cut. FM could have listed the reasons and it is for the people to decide whether the reasons are acceptable or not.

"Instead, she has questioned the very comparison of BE (Budget estimate) and RE (revised estimates). I am astonished that the Hon'ble FM should say that comparison of BE and RE is 'flawed'. If BE and RE are not comparable, why list the two numbers side-by-side on the same page in the Budget documents?" Chidambaram asked.

He also asked why the finance minister lists the BE of fiscal deficit side-by-side with the RE of fiscal deficit. "In order to show the world that the government has 'improved' upon the original estimate of the fiscal deficit," he said.

"The same logic applies to all estimates. As far as capital expenditure in 2024-25 is concerned, the numbers conclusively prove that there was a reduction (cut) in 2024-25," Chidambaram said in the statement.

Earlier, finance minister Sitharaman said the capital expenditure has not been reduced but has gone up to Rs 11.21 lakh crore for the 2025-26 fiscal, and claims of cuts are misleading and based on flawed comparisons.

Replying during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said the capital expenditure was Rs 11.11 lakh crore in 2024-25. "Actually, (in) the budget this year..., it has gone up to Rs 11.21 lakh crore. So, the capital expenditure has not been cut at all," she said. "So, cutting down the capital expenditure is not the case with us."

Sitharaman was responding to a question by Chidambaram. Later, responding to a social media post of Chidambaram's, Sitharaman said his "claims of a cut in capital expenditure are misleading and based on flawed comparisons".

Chidambaram's selective arithmetic and flawed comparisons between BE and RE of the same year may serve political rhetoric but do little for informed public discourse, she said in her own post on X.