Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a special economic package worth Rs several lakh crore to assist labourers, farmers, tax payers, MSMEs and cottage industry and added that it will emphasis on land, labour, liquidity and laws.
PM Modi said the details of the new package will be announced by the finance minister over the next several days beginning tomorrow.
“I announce a special economic package today. This will be an important link in the self-reliant India campaign. If we add the value of the announcements made by the government recently and the decisions taken by the RBI, then this package is worth Rs 20 lakh crore. This is 10% of India’s GDP,” PM Narendra Modi said.
He added that this package will provide new impetus to India’s ambition for self-reliance in the year 2020.
“This package is for MSMEs and cottage industries that provide jobs to crores of people and form the foundation of a self-reliant India, it is for the labourers and the farmers who toil day and night in all sorts of difficult conditions, it is for the middle class that honestly pays its taxes, it is for the business world that is committed to further raising India’s economic heft,” said PM Modi.
He added that it was essential for India to march forward with bold reforms to reach the goal of self-reliance and claimed that the reforms undertaken in the last few years such as direct cash transfers and opening of bank accounts for the poor and the women in rural India have already delivered big results.
{{/usCountry}}He added that it was essential for India to march forward with bold reforms to reach the goal of self-reliance and claimed that the reforms undertaken in the last few years such as direct cash transfers and opening of bank accounts for the poor and the women in rural India have already delivered big results.
{{/usCountry}}“The reforms undertaken in the last few years have ensured that every single paise meant for the poor reaches their accounts,” he said.
Giving an indication that the future reforms will be wide ranging, the prime minister first mentioned the need to reform the entire supply chain linking the agriculture sector.
“It will ensure that a crisis like the one started by the coronavirus has limited impact on agriculture in the future,” he said before adding, “These reforms will be for building a rational tax system, simple and clear laws, top class infrastructure, capable human resources and strong financial system.”
He added that these reforms will further promote business and attract investment while strengthening the make in India initiative.
Prime Minister said India will modernize its supply chain, produce products of the highest quality to mark its emergence as the new economic power house.
He identified the five pillars -- economy, infrastructure, technology driven system, vibrant demography and demand—that will drive India’s vision in this respect.
PM Modi said the first pillar is economy which doesn’t get caught up in incremental changes but makes a quantum jump.
The second pillar, he said, is infrastructure that becomes the identity of modern India.
The third pillar is system, one that doesn’t follow the rules of the past century but is based on technology-driven systems that can realize the dreams of the 21st century.
Demography, he said, is the fourth pillar, “Vibrant demography of world’s largest democracy is its strength and it is also the source of the energy for a self-reliant India.”
He identified the fifth pillar as demand: “The cycle of demand and supply chain needs to be leveraged to its full potential. To increase demand in the country, it is important for every stake holder of our supply chain to be strengthened.”
Prime Minister’s announcement follows interventions made by the finance ministry and the RBI to mitigate the disastrouos impact of Coved-19 on all sectors of economy. While the finance ministry had announced an economic stimulus worth Rs 1.70 lakh crore, the RBI had made several policy decisions to ease liquidity pressure in the market.
It also assumes significance in the light of government’s push to create necessary infrastructure to attract investors who may flee China after the pandemic.