Nirmala Sitharaman takes ride in Mumbai’s local train; clicks selfies with passengers

MUMBAI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday took a ride in a Mumbai local train from Kalyan to Ghatkopar.

Sitharaman also interacted and took selfies with commuters travelling in the train.

The Finance Minister was received by BJP MP Manoj Kotak at the Ghatkopar Railway Station.

“Sitharaman interacted with commuters during her journey back from Kalyan to Ghatkopar in a Mumbai Local train. The Union Finance Minister was received by Manoj Kotak, MP (LS), upon her arrival at the Ghatkopar Railway Station,” the office of the finance minister said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has taken public transport on several occasions and interacted with commuters.

Meanwhile, Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday underscored the government’s commitment to the principle of “innovate from India to innovate for India,” highlighting that it has been the guiding philosophy in their approach.

Smt @nsitharaman interacts with commuters while travelling from Ghatkopar to Kalyan in a Mumbai local train. pic.twitter.com/T15BdC3f5V

— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) February 24, 2024

The Finance Minister said that the growing India benefits from the contributions across various sectors by the skilled youth of India in the country’s development.

“Innovate from India to innovate for India is the principle with which our government has worked, so innovation gets all the support,” Sitharaman said.

The Finance Minister emphasized the government’s unwavering support for innovation, citing a recent budget announcement where a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore was allocated for a special purpose vehicle dedicated to funding research and development activities.

“In my latest budget, the vote on the account budget, I had announced that there will be a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore given for the corpus for a special purpose vehicle which will be created by the government, which will be funding innovations and research and development activities,” she added.

The Union Minister further said that the impact of well-rounded education is such that different services and domains benefit from its presence.

“Today, India’s growing start-up industry has actually very much benefited from the BITSian youngsters,” she added. (ANI)