New Delhi (NVI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a new scheme “Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana” to incentivise creation of new employment opportunities during the COVID recovery phase.
A slew of economic measures were announced by the Finance Minister, as part of Atmanirbhar 3.0 stimulus package worth Rs 2,65,080 crore.
Apart from the new scheme to incentivise job creation, the package includes measures for 26 stressed sectors, benefits for home buyers and real estate developers.
During a press conference, Sitharamman said the Covid-19 stimulus provided so far added up to 15 per cent of GDP, of which the government contribution was 9 per cent. She was accompanied by Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs.
The FM said the Indian economy was witnessing a strong recovery, while announcing the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana”. Under the scheme, EPF-registered organisations would get benefits on recruiting new people who didn’t have EPFO before or those who lost their jobs between March 1 and September 30.
She added that macro-economic indicators are pointing towards recovery. Her address came a day after the Union Cabinet approved Rs 2 lakh crore Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) package to boost demand in the country.
Sitharaman started the press conference by sharing details on energy consumption growth. She said that energy consumption growth trended higher in October at 12% YoY and GST collections for October grossed Rs 1.05 lakh crore, registering a Year over Year (YoY) growth of 10%.
She further added that 28 states have been brought under One Nation One Ration Card scheme. “Around 14 lakh loans have been sanctioned under PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors,” she said while explaining progress of schemes under the Atmanirbar Bharat package.
Other highlights of Sitharaman’s press conference are:
– An additional outlay of Rs 10,000 crores will be provided for PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana in the current financial year, to boost rural employment.
– Rs 900 crore provided for Covid Suraksha Mission for research and development of the Indian Covid-19 vaccine to the Department of Biotechnology.
– Rs 3,000 crore will be given to EXIM Bank for promotion of project exports through Lines of Credit under IDEAS Scheme.
– Rs 65,000 crore to be provided for subsidised fertilisers. This will help 140 million farmers.
– For primary residential real estate sales, relief on the difference between circle rate & agreement value up to 20% vs 10% earlier.
– Income tax relief for developers and home buyers.
– Support for Construction & Infrastructure-Performance security on contract to be reduced to 3% instead of 5%. Earnest Money Deposit will not be required for tenders and will be replaced by Bid Security Declaration. Relaxations will be given till 31st December 2021.
-ARK
