Centre working on stimulus package for Indian economy

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry is working on a second relief package for theIndian economy hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the contagion, sources said.

Last month, the government announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package in the form of foodgrains and cash transfers for the poor and vulnerable section of the society to help them deal with the hardships caused by the lockdown.

Now, the government is working on a stimulus to be given to hard-hit sectors of the economy after the lockdown is lifted, sources said, adding, an announcement is expected in the next few days depending on the severity of the pandemic.

Besides, further relief measures are being worked upon to mitigate the hardships faced by citizens, especially the poor and vulnerable section of the society, sources added. The finance ministry along with the empowered group constituted by the Prime Minister's office (PMO) is working tirelessly on this aspect, sources said.

Last week, the PMO constituted a seven-member empowered group headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, who is monitoring the situation on a daily basis. The empowered group is not only looking at the pain points of the economy but also the distress and misery being faced by a large section of the society who have been rendered jobless due to the outbreak.

Besides Chakraborty, the other members of the panel are Expenditure Secretary T V Somnathan, Labour Secretary Hiralal Samariya, Rural Development Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Department of Financial Services Additional Secretary Pankaj Jain, Joint Secretary in Prime Minister's Office Arvind Shrivastava and Deputy Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat Amrapali Kata.

The panel is also looking at the rural distress. Since top officials of three departments of the finance ministry are part of the group, it can be construed as the Finance Ministry itself. According to sources, the group is looking at the stress in various sectors including MSME, hospitality, civil aviation, agriculture and allied sector and based on the inputs working on the stimulus package.

The comprehensive package once prepared will be vetted by the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announcement would be made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, source added.

The announcement is expected to be made towards the end of lockdown so that the industry can be put on track and the economy can be reinvigorated as soon as possible.

Last month, the Finance Minister announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus that included free foodgrains and cooking gas to poor for three months, and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens as it looked to ease the economic impact of the nationwide lockdown.