india

Updated: Apr 30, 2020 18:48 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday discussed ways to fast track investments into India to spur economic growth hit by coronavirus pandemic outbreak as the country nears the end of the second phase of the 40-day-long national lockdown that has crippled most economic activity leading to a cut in the economic growth projections and forecasts of an economic downturn.

The meeting chaired by the prime minister was also attended by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the home minister Amit Shah, the minister for commerce & industries Piyush Goyal along with minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur along with senior officials of the government of India.

A release from the prime minister’s office said that the meeting underlined the need for a more proactive approach and to handhold investors to clear all bottlenecks for necessary approvals to start a business in the country.

“During the meeting, the PM directed that the action should be taken for a more proactive approach to handhold the investors, to look into their problems and help them in getting all the necessary Central and State clearances in a time-bound manner,” the release said.

The meeting comes one a day when agencies released data indicating the growth of eight core sector industries had contracted by 6.5 per cent in the month of March 2020, compared to 5.8 per cent growth registered last year.

The meeting also comes in the backdrop of downward revision of GDP growth forecasts by several agencies including the IMF. In the light of the need for investments in the post-coronavirus economy, the prime minister has been stressing on attracting companies leaving China due to ongoing trade war with the US and the uncertainties created by coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. He has also stressed on self-reliance as the best way to cope with such crisis.

In the present scenario, the PM is said to have advised for the development of a scheme to create ready-to-use infrastructure and financing support to attract global and domestic investments.

Today’s meeting comes a day after a task force headed by economic affairs secretary Atanu Chakraborty forecasted an investment need of Rs 111 lakh crore over the next five years to build infrastructure projects and to drive economic growth.



For Coronavirus Live Updates

According to the government release, the prime minister stressed on helping states evolve their own strategies and said they needed to be proactive in attracting investments.

The meeting also decided to continue with the reform initiatives undertaken by the various ministries, including removal of any obstacles to the promotion of investment and industrial growth in a time-bound manner.

The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19

Earlier today, former RBI governor and noted economist Raghuram Rajan said that going for a second or third lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) will be devastating for the country’s economy.