It is nearly three months into the COVID-19 crisis and India is fighting a battle to reboot its economy, as it is going through one of the most difficult phases in the post-liberalization era. The outbreak and resulting lockdowns not only affected the economy but the financial health of families, productivity, e-commerce, and life of every individual in some way or the other.
These issues were raised in a session held on Tuesday. The panel discussion was virtual on getting growth back. Prime Minister said the government has already started taking steps towards boosting the economy with eased guidelines under the ‘Unlock 1.0’ strategy as this will help India to get its growth back. “I would rather go beyond getting growth back. We will definitely recover our growth back” Narendra Modi said. He added, “the government is facing a higher fiscal deficit, to meet the lending necessities the banking sector urgently needs to add more debt or equity in capital to the tune of Rs 3-4 lakh crore,”. As India is facing one of its worst recession, PM Modi said the government will further engage in discussions with industry leaders so that they can create more jobs under schemes like ‘Make in India‘.
Stressing the need for speed the government should take advantage of e-commerce or digital platforms. At the time of the pandemic, the wise decision is to opt for digital platforms to bring out extensive regulatory reforms to quicken the pace of online approvals. There should be the use of technology, big data to bring out more productivity in manufacturing, as the manufacturing sector is still facing a lot of challenges on several fronts, particularly infrastructure, be it electricity, or roads commented by participants on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged to uplift the domestic industry in India through future operations aims to make India self-reliant or “Atma nirbhar”. The target must be for every village to have concrete cemented roads, drains, sewage, piped drinking water, good public buildings, and housing for rural India. The top priority should be given to infrastructure-rail construction, roads, shift to pre-cast technology for buildings.
India needs to focus on infrastructure and productivity. For a better quality of life, and infrastructure boost is needed. It ensures better health and better business.
