Atmanirbhar package to have multiplier effect on economy: Thakur

"In the Finance Ministry we are evaluating the situation regularly and swiftly implementing announcements made so far. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package will have a multiplier effect on the economy. If you look at this, the two decades of reforms were undertaken in the span of two weeks. India means business in a world where business is no longer as usual," Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said.

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry is swiftly implementing various schemes announced under the Rs 20.97 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package which is going to have a multiplier effect on the Indian economy, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said on Tuesday.

Emphasising that India's resilience will sail the country through these testing times, he said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing everything possible for Indians and the industry to deal with the challenges caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the Finance Ministry we are evaluating the situation regularly and swiftly implementing announcements made so far. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package will have a multiplier effect on the economy. If you look at this, the two decades of reforms were undertaken in the span of two weeks. India means business in a world where business is no longer as usual," he said.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package which focuses on survival of business and sets a roadmap for the revival of the economy, he said while addressing FICCI Frames via webinar.

Talking about the media and entertainment sector, Thakur said the creative economy is a high growth sector.

"If nurtured properly, it can tremendously boost competitiveness, productivity, sustainable growth, employment and the export potential of India. The challenge before India is in the form of intellectual property, and the copyright digitalisation, skilled workforce and access to distribution networks," he said.

The industry is totally dependent on advertisement, whereas globally, major income comes from distribution networks or from the payment that each consumer pays, he said.

There is a need to align all of these to accelerate and create new avenues of growth and revenue, he added.

Green shoots visible, India will bounce back: NITI Aayog CEO Kant

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said green shoots are visible and the economy, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, will bounce back soon.

The pandemic has impacted economic activities severely as the country had to go through a nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. The government had to announce a slew of measures, including fiscal package, to boost the economy.

"I am a great believer that India will bounce back. We are already seeing green shoots in the economy. We are seeing that key sectors like FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) have already come back.

"I am hopeful that we will bounce back and bounce back with a vengeance," he said while speaking at 'FICCI FRAMES 2020'.

The slowdown in economic activities led to a decline in the government's revenue collection. However, with the gradually unlocking, economic activities are reviving. The GST revenue collection in June rose to Rs 90,917 crore from Rs 62,009 crore mopped up in May and Rs 32,294 crore in April.

Kant further said the pandemic is a massive challenge not merely for India but for the whole world, including the US and European countries.

"Every crisis is also an opportunity. Therefore, this crisis is also going to have huge losers and winners. India can decide whether it wants to lose or whether it wants to win," he said.

Kant stressed that India must pick up 12-13 areas of growth that are going to emerge as winners for tomorrow and listed out areas like data, artificial intelligence, genomics, mobility, and creative industry.

"We must identify 12-13 sectors where India must become a global champion and really drive vigorously with full energy," he said adding that those sectors will take India to sustain high growth over the next 10-12 years and create a vast number of jobs.

On the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, Kant said it is not about isolation and anti-globalisation.

"It is about getting the best from the world. It's about creating world-class products. It's not about protectionism. It's about abilities of Indian companies to create world-class products, capture the Indian market and then use the strength of the domestic market to penetrate the global market," he said.

(PTI Report)