Industry positive on economic revival to pre-Covid levels: FM

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 5

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the message from the industry about Indian economy’s revival to pre-Covid levels was positive.

Noting that the Union Budget represented a blend of stimulus and reforms which the country needs for progress over the next 25 years, the Finance Minister said she had been interacting with a range of industry leaders about the revival of the economy and they were all positive.

“I’ve been interacting with a lot of industry groups across the board from cement and tyre manufacturers to services sector and they all say their businesses are running to full capacity,” Sitharaman said during an interaction at the Indian Women’s Press Corps.

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Asked to comment on the Haryana law reserving 75% private sector jobs for locals, Nirmala Sitharaman said: I don’t know the logic Haryana followed to do this. I can’t comment till I know the law and its details

She said she was in Chennai and Bengaluru recently to engage 37 industry leaders. “Most said they are already running full capacity and still there is more demand and they’re struggling to meet that and investing more to expand capacities.

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“Cement, tyre, paints, plastics, finance companies, textile, all had the same thing to say. They are all clearly back in business. I would like to take a cue from the industry and say the message is very positive,” the FM said when asked when the economy would be back to pre-Covid levels.

She said she couldn’t peg a timeline but could see the industry response was positive. On continuing farmers’ protests, the minister said the government was engaged on the issue.

She said agriculture would be a key part of the country’s goal to achieve a $5-trillion economy target and the sector had shown resilience during the lockdown.

The Finance Minister said indicators of job revival were also strong, including migrant workers returning to jobs, MNREGA demand rising, and formal job recruitment also improving.

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