New Delhi, March 18 -- The Modi government has "fully repaid" the Rs. 2.92 lakh crore oil bond burden imposed by the Congress-led UPA regime, including both principal and interest, by March 2026, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. "Imagine, if this amount had not been spent on servicing past liabilities, it could have been invested in building India's future -- in ports, roads, hospitals, and schools. Cleaning up the fiscal legacy has come at a cost, but it was necessary," she said, replying to a debate on the second batch of supplementary demands for grants. Between 2004-05 and 2009-10, the UPA government issued oil bonds worth Rs 1.48 lakh crore to oil marketing companies (OMCs) in lieu of cash s...