ADITYA RAJ DAS
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that resilience of the Indian economy is highlighted by the fact that it has recovered sharply after the COVID-19 pandemic. She stressed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic India still one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of CII Global Economic Policy Summit 2021 today, the Finance Minister said, auto sales in India would have also been good if it had not been for the semiconductor shortage and shipping container shortage.
Saying Labour markets have realised their importance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mrs Sitharaman emphasized that the value of skill has gone up and workers are in a different bargaining position and industries have recognized this. She said that government departments are moving fast on undertaking infrastructure spending.
The Minister said that country’s banking sector has also recovered remarkably after the pandemic, adding new-age industries including startups to be very important for the growth of the Indian economy.
She made it clear that India is very committed to its set goals in the COP26 summit. She also urged the Indian industry to look to expand capacity and increase investment in green fuels in order to help India meet its COP26 goals.
She noted that the government is working to remove the compliance burden for the Indian private industry. The Finance Minister said, under the credit outreach programme, over 75,000 crore rupees have been disbursed in four-five categories.