Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore to help India tide over the challenges posed by the coronavirus crisis and said the stimulus, worth 10 per cent of India’s GDP, will help in the mission to make the country self-reliant.
Saying that the package will help India compete at the global scale, the Prime Minister said the relief package empowers one and all. The PM said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will give more details about the package on Wednesday, but assured that the package will not be “trickle down", and it will cover all sections.
Modi also said that the nationwide lockdown will be extended further, but said that ‘lockdown 4’ will be entirely different to the current one and the new rules and guidelines will be released before May 18.
Here are the Highlights From the PM’s speech:
- The relief package will fight economic distress in many areas. Land, labour, liquidity and law are the four focus areas. MSME, small business, co-operative business have been given special attention in the package, the PM said. Poorer sections and the middle class will not be neglected.
- India is committed towards bold economic reforms. This package is for those who will take India forward. The package will have important announcements for every sector as all of us have been touched by coronavirus.
- The local has saved us. It is not only a necessity but also our responsibility. Local has to become our "jeevan mantra." Today's global brands were all once local. Every citizen has to be vocal for local.
- Modi said India’s self-reliance will stand on five pillars. The first pillar will be economy, the second pillar will be infrastructure. The third pillar will be our system which will be technology-driven, the fourth pillar will our demography and the fifth pillar will be demand.
- The PM said Lockdown 4.0 will be entirely different and will have new rules. It will be based on suggestions by the states and details will be informed by May 18. "We will fight and move forward by following rules.
- “We have to be stronger. We have to save ourselves and keep moving forward at the same time," he says, adding, “We have been hearing that 21st century will belong to India, but this is not just a dream but our responsibility too. But how to achieve it. The current world situation shows, there is only one way: self-reliant India".
- "India has given ray of hope to the world, and its culture has stressed that the world is a family. India has never been self-centered, and its definition of self reliance takes into account the needs of a globalised world".
- India’s efforts are being lauded by the world. The world has started believing in India's abilities. But India can improve further, both its quality and its supply chain. “India has turned this crisis into an opportunity already. When the coronavirus came to India, we had negligible amount of PPE kits and very small number of N95 kits, but now they are being manufactured at a very big scale."
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