Stimulus plans - INR 50,000 crore package waiting in the wings
An official who didn't want to be named said that a high powered panel is thrashing out a mega economic stimulus package with a kitty of INR 50,000 crore, which may be part of the first Budget of the next government at the Centre.
Mr Ajay Shankar secretary department of industrial policy and promotion who is a member of the panel headed by cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar confirmed that another booster measure was in the works to kick start the economy.
Mr Shankar told ET that "We have drawn the contours of this package. It's for the next government to finalise it. We have to keep the stimulus going though we need to be fiscally responsible. Its aim will be to substitute the decline of private investment with public expenditure."
Other members of the panel include secretaries of the finance and commerce departments and a secretary of the Planning Commission.
According to Mr Shankar of DIPP, impacts of the two fiscal packages announced earlier were already visible. Some of the sectors have started recovering. Many expansion plans announced by private sector companies are actually taking place, Toyota's small car plant in Bangalore being an example.
Mr Shankar also said the country had clocked in foreign direct investment of over USD 25 billion till February which is more than what was raked in the earlier fiscal.
The government had earlier announced two fiscal packages in addition to the Indian central bank RBI's monetary interventions to boost the economy. The earlier fiscal measures also liberalised various rules and regulations to increase liquidity and give a boost to spending. While announcing the earlier packages, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the government's initiatives were mainly to ensure that the growth momentum was intact.
(Source : The Economic Times)
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