On May 16, 2020, Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman detailed the fourth part of the Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs 20 lakh crores to support Indian economy in the fight against COVID-19 during her 4th press conference in New Delhi. Its first part was presented on May 13, 2020 Click Here to Read while its Part 2 was presented on May 14 Click Here to Read and 3rd part was presented on May 15. Click Here to Read.
- The Part 4 of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” (self-reliant India Movement) is consisted of structural reforms in the eight sectors of Coal, Minerals, Defence production, Civil Aviation, Power Sector, Social Infrastructure, Space and Atomic energy.
- The aim is to boost economic growth, and create jobs.
Following are the details of the fourth tranche of package starting with Coal Sector:
Coal Sector: Rs 50,000 cr infused for building evacuation infrastructure
The monopoly of the government on the commercial mining of coal has come to an end as the govt has announced commercial mining of coal by the private sector. Now, commercial mining will be done on revenue sharing mechanism instead of a regime of fixed Rupee/tonne.
- The government will invest Rs 50,000 crore for building evacuation infrastructure to enhance Coal India Limited’s (CIL) target of 1 billion tons coal production by 2023-24 plus coal production from private blocks.
- This will include Rs 18,000 crore worth of investment in mechanised transfer of coal (conveyor belts) from mines to railway sidings. This measure will also help reduce environmental impact.
- Coal Gasification / Liquefication will also be incentivised through rebate in revenue share.
- This is being done to reduce import of substitutable coal and increase self-reliance in coal production.
About CIL
Headquarter– Kolkata, West Bengal
Chairman-cum-Managing-Director– Pramod Agrawal
Mineral sector: Mineral Index for different minerals to be developed
Centre will introduce seamless composite exploration-cum-mining-cum-production regime. In this regard, 500 mining blocks would be offered through an open and transparent auction process.
- A joint auction of Bauxite & Coal mineral blocks will be introduced.
- Ministry of Mines is in the process of developing a Mineral Index for different minerals.
- There will also be rationalisation of stamp duty payable at the time of award of mining leases.
Defence sector: FDI to be raised from 49% to 74%
Centre will notify a list of weapons/platforms for ban on import with year wise timelines for boosting defence production in India, as a part of Make in India initiative. There will be indigenisation of imported spares, and separate budget provisioning for domestic capital procurement. This will help reduce huge Defence import bill.
- Foreign Direct Investment limit in defence manufacturing under automatic route is being raised from 49% to 74%.
- Corporatisation of Ordnance factory board (OFB) was also announced.
- To ensure time-bound defence procurement, centre will set up a Project Management Unit (PMU) to support contract management.
Civil Aviation sector
Restrictions on utilisation of the Indian Air Space will be eased so that civilian flying becomes more efficient. This will bring a total benefit of about Rs 1,000 crore per year for the aviation sector.
- In future, India will become a global hub for Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO). Therefore, aircraft component repairs and airframe maintenance to increase from Rs 800 crore to Rs 2,000 crore in three years.
Power sector; Privatization of PDCs in UTs
Power Distribution Companies (PDCs) in Union Territories (UTs) to be privatised in line with the new tariff policies. This will enable to strengthen industries and bring in efficiency in the entire power sector.
Boosting Private Sector investment with Rs. 8,100 crore
The Government will enhance the quantum of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) upto 30% each of Total Project Cost as VGF by the Centre and State/Statutory Bodies. For other sectors, VGF existing support of 20 % each from Government of India and States/Statutory Bodies shall continue. Total outlay is Rs. 8,100 crore. Projects shall be proposed by Central Ministries/ State Government/ Statutory entities.
Boosting private participation in space sectors
Government is working on a liberal geo-spatial policy. Predictable policy and regulatory environment to private players will be provided. Private sector will be allowed to use ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) facilities and other relevant assets to improve their capacities.
About ISRO:
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karanataka
Director– Kailasavadivoo Sivan
Atomic Energy Sector
The government intends to link India’s robust start-up ecosystem to the nuclear sector. In this regard, Technology Development cum Incubation Centres will be set up for fostering synergy between research facilities and tech entrepreneurs.
- Research reactor in PPP mode will also be established for production of medical isotopes.
Other announcements regarding policy reforms, and upgradation of Industrial Infrastructure
Policy reforms to fast track investment in an effort towards Aatma Nirbhar Bharat:
- There will be fast tracking of investment clearance through Empowered Group of Secretaries.
- Project Development Cell will be constituted in each Ministry to prepare investible projects, coordinate with investors and Central/State Governments.
- There will be ranking of States on investment attractiveness to compete for new investment.
- Incentive schemes for promotion of new champion sectors will be launched in sectors such as solar PV (Photovoltaic) manufacturing; advanced cell battery storage etc.
Upgradation of Industrial Infrastructure
- Industrial Cluster Upgradation of common infrastructure facilities and connectivity.
- There will be availability of industrial land/land banks for promoting new investments and making information available on Industrial Information System (IIS) with GIS mapping. 3376 Industrial Parks/ Estates/SEZs in five lakh hectares are mapped on IIS. All Industrial Parks will be ranked during 2020-21.
