MUMBAI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said govt is mindful of concerns among retail investors and equity market participants and will consider calls for policy support to the stock market, even as it seeks to sustain economic growth above 7%.Sitharaman said the tax structure remained unchanged from FY24, when equity markets had seen strong inflows, but circumstances had since changed, with foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turning net sellers and concerns among market participants becoming louder. She said sustaining growth of over 7% required capital and govt was listening to demands for support to equity markets.While govt had focused on developing the bond market over the past few years, she said there were now calls for similar attention to equity markets. “I do not want to say more at this point but I recognise the voice,” she said at an event organised by Financial Express on Monday.Sitharaman also said she was seeing a revival in private sector investment, with companies responding to visible demand following the rollout of NextGen GST reforms in Sept 2025. While businesses remained selective about sectors and investment opportunities, she said they were increasingly willing to expand capacity because they could see demand in the market.“Industry today has the confidence that I’m able to see demand in the market. I can invest and produce and therefore reach the level which I want to reach,” she said. At another event, a fireside chat with Hitendra Dave, chief of HSBC India, FM said govt would continue to drive growth through public capital expenditure while maintaining fiscal discipline. She rejected suggestions that it should loosen spending constraints or disregard fiscal deficits and credit ratings to boost investment.She said public capital expenditure had generated multiplier effects by creating productive assets and encouraging private investment. “Capital expenditure remains a core engine of our growth strategy. Sustained public capex creates productive assets and crowding-in effects for private investment,” she said, adding that govt would continue to support economic momentum through high capital spending. FM said fiscal consolidation and growth-inducing expenditure had to be balanced. “We will remain fiscally careful while staying creative and proactive in fostering sustainable economic growth,” she said.
