The Government’s intention is to make the business landscape easy and facilitative: Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs

It is the collective effort of all key stakeholders and also those on the ground which has enabled India to stand up to the challenges imposed by COVID and bounce back to near about double-digit growth, stated Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India while addressing the Inaugural Session of the CII Global Economic Policy Summit 2021, organized from 17 - 18 November 2021.

"If ship and chip shortage had not been there, growth would have been even higher," she noted.

The Finance Minister emphatically urged the industry to seize the opportunities presented by Aatmanirbhar Bharat, ramp up capacities, create job opportunities and empower people with skill sets. She requested India Inc to venture into new areas, find partners to upgrade technologically, invest in infrastructure and adopt a growth oriented focus. Amidst these, the Government's intention is to make the business landscape easy and facilitative, she added.

The spike in consumer spending suggests not just pent up demand, but indicates that life is getting restored after a crisis of this scale, reiterated the Finance Minister. The labour market also indicates the presence of semi skilled and high skilled labour who value their skill sets and are in a position to bargain, while looking for employment. The Finance Minister outlined some of the priority areas for the Government which include infrastructure building and technology driven infrastructure. INR 5.5 lakh crores are allocated for infrastructure with 134% increase in health infrastructure, she added.

Fin tech and Bharat Net are reaching the farthest corners of the country which present collateral benefits for growth. Start-ups and new age technology will make a big difference to the economy, she mentioned.

Smt Sitharaman also shared her views on the Public Sector Banks including declining Non Performing Assets, an uptick in recovery, credit outreach programmes including the distribution of INR 75,000 crores in 4-5 categories and partnerships between PSBs and NBFCs. The changing geopolitical landscape poses several challenges including the rise in crude oil prices, which is making it difficult to purchase natural gas, she added.

Mr Uday Kotak, Past President, CII and Chairman, CII Global Economic Policy Summit outlined some crucial priorities for sustainable growth and recovery which will be centre stage in policy making. The areas he outlined were inequality, liquidity measures, climate change, technology induced disruption and dislocation, supply chain shocks, private sector investments and Universal Basic Income.

Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry highlighted that there are several indications of economic recovery due to welcome measures such as privatization and ease of doing business, amongst other regulatory measures.

November 17, 2021

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