Nirmala Sitharaman Says Food Shouldn't Become Instrument In War Or Disruption

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that food shouldn't become an instrument in war or disruption and neither should fertiliser or fuel, as she highlighted concerns around domestic food security and global supply chain.

With global food insecurity, at least for some staples and essentials, there should be regional availability, she said while speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave on Friday.

"...There should be a regional balance that you need, if not a countrywide balance. So that at least within a region, you can have sufficiency and surety that your food basket will always be ready. (Because) if you depend on global sourcing, you also have to factor in global risks," she said.

Speaking on emerging concerns for businesses, the Finance Minister said that business decision-making will have to be strongly influenced by the impact of global terror.

"Businesses can no longer be attracted by just policies or by just openness of an economy, they are also going to factor in 'the magnet' that is going to attract terrorist targeting," Sitharaman said.

The Finance Minister also earmarked the role of climate finance for developing countries and the urgent need for a source for energy transition, which she said remains elusive.

"We still have no answers on what is going to the transition, and since we don’t have answers ... there is an unhappy situation of many countries going back to coal, at least to meet their base energy requirements. And, no one of us have any moral authority to raise a voice against it. Moving to coal at a time when uncertainty is facing every country is not going to help, but that’s the reality," she said.

Sitharaman said that investments that need to guide towards the transitional energy source are being delayed, and this has left many countries unsure on the direction towards energy transition.