Indian economy like a car with 3 tyres punctured: Chidambaram

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Indian economy has become like a car whose three tyres are punctured, former finance minister P Chidambaram said as he attacked the Narendra Modi government on rising petroleum prices and other issues.

“Private investment, private consumption, exports and government expenditures are four growth engines of an economy. It’s like four tyres of a car. If one or two tyres are punctured, it will slow down but in our case, three tyres are punctured,” the senior Congress leader said at an event organised by the Maharashtra Congress unit.

Government expenditure is on only in healthcare and in some other amenities, he said. “To keep this expenditure going on, the government has continued taxing petrol, diesel and even LPG. It is squeezing money from people in such taxes and spending some from it on public amenities,” Chidambaram said.

Did you see any investment in the power sector recently, he questioned. “For example, out of the 10 major companies that went into insolvency, five were steel companies. How can you expect any investment in such sectors,” he wondered. Chidambaram also criticised the government for introducing a “five-slab” Goods and Services Tax regime.