New Delhi, Dec. 6 -- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2025 that a customs cleanup was her next big assignment for India.

The FM was in a conversation with editor-in-chief at Hindustan Times, R Sukumar, at the 23rd edition of the HTLS, where she answered what's coming next for India.

Speaking about freebies during election promises, Sitharaman said, "Some states borrow, high cost loans, to dole out freebies. We are talking to state ministries on how they can restructure loans to manage."

She said that she was concerned about the fact that the budget of these states will not be able to afford the freebies, adding that the Centre was speaking with them about any help on restrict...