Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a set of measures for the economy in the wake of the coronavirus disease pandemic. This is yet another stimulus package ahead of Diwali on Saturday.
“I am announcing the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana which will incentivise creation of new employment opportunities during the Covid-19 recovery phase. This will be applicable for those joining employment in EPFO registered establishments on monthly wages less than Rs 15,000 per months,” said Sitharaman.
“This will be effective from October 1, 2020. They will be covered for two years,” she added.
She also presented the state of the economy, sayng active recovery has been happening in the country. She made the remarks on a day when a panel of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said India is witnessing recession. Sitharaman said the markets are at record high and the foreign reserves has reached US $560 billion.
The finance minister also listed the progress in the key schemes announced by the government in the past months, like ‘One Nation One Ration Card’, PM SVANidhi (PM Street Vendors’ Atmanirbhar Nidhi). “Twenty eight states have implemented the national portability under ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme with effect from September 1, 2020. It now covers 68.6 crore beneficiaries who no have the option to lift their foodgrain from any FPS of choice in any of these 28 states/UTs,” said Sitharaman.
Among the other schemes which the finance minister said have made great strides are Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), Kisan credit cards and funding for farmers through NABARD.
She also said that there is strong economic recovery happening in India. Presenting the state of the economy, Sitharaman said markets are at record high and India’s foreign reserves has reached US $560 billion.
“Quite a few indicators are showing a distinct recovery in the economy,” said the finance minister.
Sitharaman’s address comes a day after the the Union Cabinet approved a Rs 2 lakh crore production-linked incentive (PLI) package to boost demand in the country. It also launched a Rs 8,100-crore viability gap funding (VGF) scheme to encourage private participation in social infrastructure such as water supply and solid waste management.
Sitharaman had said that the two programmes are meant to take India forward on the path of self-reliance and making sure that the country remains a part of the global value chain.
The PLI scheme for the 10 sectors announced on Wednesday involves incentives worth Rs 1,45,980 crore in the next five years in addition to Rs 51,311 crore package under implementation for mobile manufacturing and specified electronic components (Rs 40,951 crore), drug intermediaries and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) worth Rs 6,940 crore, and manufacturing of medical devices (Rs 3,420 crore).
In a tweet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Cabinet decision will boost manufacturing, give opportunities to youth and make India a preferred investment destination. “This is an important step towards improving our competitiveness & realising an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” he wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Indian shares had snapped an eight-day winning streak on Thursday as investors locked in gains from banking and financial stocks ahead of the announcement by Sitharaman.