Nirmala Sitharaman Endorsing An Investment Plan? Here’s The Truth.

A video of the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, endorsing an investment plan went viral on social media. In the video, Nirmala Sitharaman talks about a government financial project. She says that every Indian citizen who invests ₹21000 in this project will receive payment of 1 million to 500 thousand rupees monthly. 

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We found another video of Nirmala Sitharaman speaking about an investment platform Quantum AI.

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the videos have been edited. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We noticed some abnormalities in the viral videos. The voice of Nirmala Sitharaman sounded different and mechanical. Therefore, we took screenshots from the videos and conducted a reverse image search.

Reverse image search of the screenshots from the first video led us to a report published in India Today on 15 March 2024 which contained an image similar to the screenshots from the viral video. We could see Nirmala Sitharaman in an attire similar to the one in the viral video. Moreover, the chair was similar as well. The image’s caption read, “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at India Today Conclave 2024.”

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Taking this clue we conducted a relevant keyword search which led us to a video premiered on the official YouTube channel of India Today on 15 March 2024. The video shows Nirmala Sitharaman speaking at the India Today Conclave, 2024 on 15 March 2024. Watching the video carefully, we found several similarities between the viral video and the YouTube video, for example, the attire of Nirmala Sitharaman, and the chair she was sitting in. From the timestamp 12:37, we noticed the hand movements of Nirmala Sitharaman matching the viral video. There, she can be heard answering a question on “North-South Divide”. Nowhere in the video does Nirmala Sitharaman talk about any investment plan.

A comparison between the viral video and the original video can be seen below. 

In the second video, we noticed “Budget Roundtable 2025” written on the stage. Taking this clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This led us to a video on the official YouTube channel of Business Today, live-streamed on 4 February 2025.

From the timestamp 7:17, we noticed the video matches the viral video.  The video matches the viral one. But, nowhere in the video does Nirmala Sitharaman talk about any investment platform. 

A comparison between the viral video and the YouTube video can be seen below.

This makes it clear that the viral videos have been edited.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the viral videos have been altered. As claimed, Nirmala Sitharaman was not talking about any investment plan. The viral videos have been edited. In the first video, Nirmala Sitharaman was interacting with journalists at the India Today Conclave, 2024, while the second video shows her attending the Business Roundtable 2025.