New Delhi, Oct. 17 -- Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday expressed hope that the proposed India-US trade deal is concluded at the earliest in the interest of both bilateral and global trade. Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has also wished for a mutually beneficial agreement to be signed soon, she said during a conversation with foreign policy expert Michael Kugelman at American think tank Atlantic Council, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Bangkok. On Thursday, Goyal said the first phase of the India-US trade deal has been finalised and is now being legally drafted. He expressed confidence that the deal would be concluded and operationalized soon, but only once India secures an export advantage over its competitors in the US market. Separately, US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, on Thursday said the trade deal negotiations were moving at an "incredible pace", and that the "big items are done". In February, both countries agreed to a framework for the deal, which reduced the punitive tariff imposed on most Indian goods from 50% to 18% in August 2025. The US remained India's largest goods export destination in the first half of the current fiscal year through March 2027, with shipments rising 11% from a year before to $50.8 billion. While trade talks have been ongoing, a new US law authorizing President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian oil has added to India's discomfort. New Delhi has said it will take all necessary steps to ensure energy security for the country's 1.4 billion people. India, Sitharaman underscored, has maintained its growth momentum "against all the odds", remaining the world's fastest-growing major economy since 2021-22. Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised their FY27 growth projections for India this month by 50-60 basis points to 7.1% and 7%, respectively, after the country recorded a stronger-than-expected expansion of 7.8% in the June quarter. "Public spending on capital expenditure has helped us build infrastructure in the country, and that has a greater multiplier effect," she said. She also said the government's focus on inclusivity and "making sure everyone has access to resources and access to skilling" while sticking to fiscal prudence has helped the economy, the minister said. "We are conscious that we have a responsibility with public money and therefore, have a very clear understanding that we can't be splurging money, even as we have to take care of those who are vulnerable in the economy," she said. The central government began sharply raising its capital spending after 2020 to nurse the pandemic-hit economy back to health quickly. It maintained such spending to partly offset subdued private investment. While private investment has started to pick up again, lifting gross fixed capital formation growth to a three-year high of 11% in the June quarter, public spending remains a key growth driver as the war in West Asia has stoked fresh uncertainties....