Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government has taken many measures to revive the economy affected by the epidemic. But how much government intervention is not enough to bail out the economy affected by COVID-19. Sitharaman said this at the Annual General Assembly (AGM) of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICC).
He said that the major measures of the government to boost the economy include poor welfare scheme, free cooking gas, direct benefit transfer etc. Announcements were made in three sets about a self-reliant India. Some schemes for various sectors were brought together with RBI. But no intervention is sufficient to revive the economy affected by the epidemic.
Spending on infra and public spending will continue
On the next budget, the Finance Minister said that public spending will continue, especially in the case of capital and infrastructure. He said that due to the tax concessions given by the government, many sovereign funds and pension funds are willing to invest in the infrastructure projects of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). Today we are seeing that due to tax concessions given by us many foreign sovereign funds and pension funds are willing to come to India. FDI inflows into India are far higher than in other emerging economies. “He said,” Foreign funds want to come to India because our macro-economic foundation is strong. Although there are many challenges, but more important is that there is a strong elected government in our country. Our government is making progressive reforms.
PSU stake will proceed on sale
He further said, ‘The government has made it clear that the disinvestment agenda approved by the Cabinet will continue. The government will go ahead with the disinvestment of public sector companies whose approval has been approved by the Union Cabinet for sale. During the epidemic, our efforts to disinvest some big companies are going well. Letters of Interest (EOI) have arrived, the next phase is underway. This can happen in this financial year also. I hope Deepam will be able to prove that he is more actively involved in the disinvestment efforts for which Cabinet approval has already been received.
Target to raise Rs 2.01 lakh crore in FY21
The government has set a target of raising Rs 2.01 lakh crore from disinvestment in the current financial year. Disinvestment program derailed due to COVID-19 epidemic. So far this financial year, the government has managed to raise only Rs 11,006 crore by selling minority stake in central public sector undertakings. The Cabinet has approved the strategic sale of more than 25 public sector companies. Management control of these companies will also be transferred. These companies include Air India, BPCL, Pawan Hans, Scooters India, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML), Shipping Corporation, Cement Corporation and some of SAIL’s steel plants. The process of selling BPCL and Air India is still going on and the government has received many letters of interest for both companies.
Source: www.financialexpress.com