GOVT STEPPING ON THE GAS - SPEED THROUGH WINTER SESSION TOO?
By Ruma Dubey
The Govt is going all out to win back some of its lost faith. It is not able to bring down the cost of dal and veggies; so it is doing what it does the best – whip up the market with a slew of chest beating announcements.
Yesterday, the Sensex crashing 381 points really got the full attention of the Govt; as such the Govt is tuned to the market movements thus yesterday’s mournful thud would have most certainly propelled it to act.
So first came the announcement on Coal India. Its divestment targets have gone haywire and it has hit upon a one-stone-kills-all kind of solution. It announced a 10% stake sale in Coal India, expected to fetch around Rs.21,000 crore. It also approved an IPO from Cochin Shipyard. It is another issue that the trade unions at Coal India have since today started protest against this 10% stake sale.
The exporters are bleeding to a slow death and finally the Govt has deiced to take steps in the right direction. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a Rs.2,700-crore interest subsidy scheme for exporters from small and labour-intensive sectors, for all 419 items and across 25 sectors. This move will allow small and medium scale exporters to avail loans at 3% lower rates. It also announced that the interest subvention scheme, known as interest-equalisation scheme, will be available for three years in a row after which it will be evaluated.
It has given some sops for the much needed sugar sector too. It approved provision of subsidy directly to cane farmers and bring down cane payment arrears. This is expected to help farmers liquidate some of the sugar stocks and meet the export target.
There was a bag of goodies for the infra sector too. To clear up some 34 road projects, stuck in a quagmire of clearances and payment issues, the Govt authorized NHAI to pay compensation to road developers in case of delays not attributable to them. Another empowerment – the Road Transport and Highways Ministry can approve projects with civil construction costs up to Rs.1,000 crore.
Even the railway sector got some good tidings. It approved railway projects worth Rs.8000 crore, to be implemented over the next seven years, across Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
Great initiatives all and the markets seem to be in a celebratory mood. More such aggressive economic reforms are required especially as mere FDI initiatives will get it nowhere. Hope the same momentum continues and the Govt manages to do more work before the Parliament opens on 28th Nov for the Winter Session. Now that’s another story altogether!