Govt pledges steps to boost growth – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said that the demand momentum was continuing beyond the festival season and it will carry on with steps to support economic growth. Economic affairs secretary Tarun Bajaj told industry captains at Ficci that growth, which was better than expected, will improve further in the second half of the current financial year, while maintaining that the government was “cautiously optimistic” on the economy.
“So, we are positive. We are cautiously optimistic on the economic front. And, we are hoping that our third and fourth quarters will be far better than the second quarter. I may also add that not only us, but the international organisations, rating agencies — all of them have revised their estimates upwards for the country,” he said.
“We will continue to take all steps that are required for ensuring that the economy keeps going up from here, and we will see far better quarter three, quarter four and the next year,” Bajaj added.
He also urged industry to come forward and invest so that growth is sustainable. “While the government will continue to emphasise on infrastructure spend, unless and until we have the private sector coming and taking the burden of the growth of the country, I don’t think we can have a sustainable growth. So, we would like to know from you (industry) as to what is it that you want the government to do so that both of us can carry this forward and 2021 we start a new decade, and that decade is the decade for India,” the civil servant said.
Addressing the Ficci AGM, industry secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra said the government was tracking 1,000 companies for investment. He also said the government will put in place a single-window investment approval mechanism by April, which will leverage technology. “It will lead to a unified single sheet of information, which other approval ministries will draw. So, he (investor) doesn’t have to do multiple applications in the end,” he said.
Further, he said, the production-linked incentives will be implemented swiftly. “By December, all the necessary approvals of the finance ministry as well as the respective Cabinet approval for these 10 sectors are expected to be complete. So, we hope to identify the new companies that will be selected under the PLIs,” he said.