India, Feb. 2 -- The budget for FY26 puts money back into the hands of the middle class and taxpayers, a category that is "helping run the country", finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a post-budget interview with Doordarshan on Saturday. "I'm not viewing this as income foregone," she added. Edited excerpts:

I want to thank the honourable Prime Minister because it was his guidance that we keep aside the calculation of revenue foregone and put money back into the hands of people. Who are these people or category of people? They're taxpayers. When we have to put money in the hands of people then it's a different subject, giving free grains, giving pension to senior citizens below poverty line, we have several different categories. ...