(a) whether the Government proposes to formulate a plan to tackle the challenge of economic slowdown;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has set up/proposes to set up a committee for this purpose, if so, the details
thereof; and
(d) the outlines of the works done by the said committee?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)
(a) & (b) Although there is some decline in growth of GDP in 2017-18, as compared to that for the previous three years, India’s GDP growth can be rated as among the best in the world. The agenda of promoting economic growth has been the utmost priority of the Government. The Government of India has taken various initiatives to boost the growth of the economy which, inter-alia, include; fillip to manufacturing, concrete measures for transport and power sectors as well as other urban and rural infrastructure, comprehensive reforms in the foreign direct investment policy and special package for textile industry. The Government has launched a phased program for bank recapitalization. This entails infusion of capital to the public sector banks, which is expected to encourage banks to enhance lending. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was enacted to achieve insolvency resolution in a time bound manner. To implement the Code, the National Company Law Tribunal was established. The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has provided a significant opportunity to improve growth momentum by reducing barriers to trade, business and related economic activities. The Government had announced various measures in the Budget 2017-18 to promote growth in the economy, which, among others, includes push to infrastructure development by giving infrastructure status to affordable housing, higher allocation to highway construction, and focus on coastal connectivity. For highways development the Bharatmala Pariyojana has been launched. The Budget 2018-19 particularly focused on strengthening agriculture and rural economy via emphasis on rural housing, rural infrastructure, keeping Minimum Support Prices (MSP) of unannounced kharif crops at least one and half times of their production cost; and emphasis on job creation to provide further impetus to the economic growth.
(c) At present, there is no such proposal before the Ministry of Finance.
(d) Does not arise.
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