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Reiterating her previous statement Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday assured the commitment of the Union government for steps to boost the economy. In a press conference in Guwahati, she said in coming weeks more measures will be announced and the government has recognised the need of boosting the consumption.
She said spending on infrastructure will be a priority and government consistently interacting with industry stakeholders and “we can frontload some public spending by the government”, she said.
At a press conference in Guwahati, she said that the government has recognised that consumption needs a boost. “Spending on infrastructure will be a priority,” she added.
Sitharaman said that Narendra Modi administration is a responsive government and will come back with answers asked by the various groups.
Union Cabinet on Wednesday had relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for various industries such as single-brand retail, coal mining, contract manufacturing and digital media.
It allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) via automatic route in coal mining and ancillary activities.
The Cabinet also approved export subsidy for 60 lakh tonnes of sugar, providing relief to sugarcane farmers, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said at the media briefing.
The sugar export subsidy will cost the government Rs 6,270 crore, and should now provide support to sugar prices.
Following the outcry of economic slowdown Sitharman had unveiled a slew of measures ranging from a rollback the additional surcharge on foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and domestic investors which she had introduced at the Union Budget in July, to immediate recapitalisation of public sector banks (PSBs) and a bouquet of measures to ease a taxpayers’ woes.
