Several rounds of discussions have been held within the government, after which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to announce this week most likely on Friday a second round of stimulus package, for the most affected sections of society, with special reference to the MSME sector.
Among the major beneficiaries, of the second set of announcements, are expected to be the farmers, women, poor, migrant workers, and other marginalised sections of the society apart from micro, small, and medium enterprises which are likely to get more weightage.
The MSME sector with special reference to the service sector i.e. Hotel and Transport industry has been worst hit by the COVID-19. But any support to these sectors and big industry will only happen later, once the economic activity normalises to some extent.
However, the industries seeking support from the government, and the ones that are worst hit by the lockdown such as aviation, hospitality, automobiles, real estate, and logistics will have to wait. Any support for sectors and big industry will only happen later, once the economic activity normalises to some extent.
Where on one side where the Indian industries bodies such as Assocham, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) have been asking for big bang packages, ranging from Rs 9 trillion to Rs 23 trillion. Last week, the CII sought creation a Rs 1.5-trillion fund to inject liquidity in the bond markets, simplifying tax structure, and measures to reduce cost of logistics and transportation, the MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari had last week said the government might soon set up a Rs 1-trillion revolving fund for MSMEs to bring in much-needed liquidity for small industries and businesses.
So, the view of the government is that as far as Medium and LARGE industry is concerned, measures targeted at reviving them can be announced at a later date. “For now, the focus is on the small industries and businesses.
Sanjeev Kumar Khanna (Financial Mentor)
Sanjeev Kumar Khanna (Financial Mentor)
