Booster dose: Govt unveils Rs 6.3-trillion package to spur growth

Includes credit guarantee schemes, steps to revive tourism, strengthen health infra

WION EXCLUSIVE: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman talks economy, COVID-19 policy, growth projections

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced the much-awaited fiscal package to revive the economy ravaged by the second pandemic wave, keeping the fiscal outgo limited for the current year. The Rs 6.28-trillion package included a new credit guarantee scheme for health, tourism and micro borrowers, besides expanding the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by half to Rs 4.5 trillion and extending the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana.

“Measures announced by the FM will enhance public health facilities, especially in under-served areas, boost private investment in medical infrastructure and augment critical human resources. Special focus is on strengthening healthcare facilities for our children,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. The new announcements include extending credit guarantees of Rs 2.6 trillion and schemes worth Rs 2.4 trillion, spread over the next two to four years.

Economists estimate the fiscal outgo for fresh announcements in the current financial year at around Rs 60,000 crore, excluding the credit guarantee schemes. An additional allocation of Rs 2.32 trillion has been made to develop health facilities for children. “There are eight such measures being announced as relief. Of those, four are absolutely new. One is specific to health infrastructure and others pertain to growth in general, exports and employees … We also want to revive tourism to survive the second Covid-19 wave,” Sitharaman said.

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