White paper on UPA regime's mismanagement to be tabled soon: Finance Minister

"Had Prime Minister Modi not taken the call, confidence in our country would be lost, investors wouldn't have come, and our people would have lost faith in the systems. The faith in institutions, in government, in leaders, and in politics would have been lost in the minds of people," she said.

Sitharaman delved into the consequences of corruption on the economy, highlighting the detrimental effects on banks, defence procurement, telecom, and mineral sectors. The mismanagement during the previous decade affected strategic areas, such as defence preparedness, mining for national benefit, and timely adoption of advanced technologies like 4G and 5G.

Responding to why the White Paper is being discussed now, Sitharaman underscored the importance of Parliament knowing the journey from economic distress to recovery.

The Finance Minister highlighted the success of the government's efforts in restoring confidence, evident in the significant growth of foreign exchange reserves to $596 billion in eight years. She highlighted the importance of elected representatives understanding the efforts it took to achieve this milestone and the responsibility to safeguard the nation's interests.

"So why the white paper now? We had 10 years. And before that, there were the 10 years where you saw all this happening—policy paralysis, corruption, the nation losing its endowments, and so on. Ten years under Prime Minister Modi, what kind of course corrections had to happen," she said.

Sitharaman believes that after a successful decade, it is time to bring the truth out so that the nation knows what it took and why it should not happen again.