(a) whether the Government has worked out another stimulus package for labour intensive sectors;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has reviewed the impact of the previous stimulus package;
(d) if so, the outcome thereof; and
(e) the fiscal and non- fiscal measures taken by the Government to help the labour intensive
sectors?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA)
(a) to (e) : The Government announced three stimulus packages on December 7, 2008,
January 2, 2009 and February 16, 2009 (In the Interim Budget for 2009-10) to provide support
to the industries impacted by economic slowdown. These industries include the labour
intensive industries.
The measures to stimulate domestic demand inter-alia include reduction in ad valorem CENVAT
duty, incentives to the housing sector with a view to give a boost to affordable housing,
and sector specific initiatives. Further, a set of measures were announced for enhancing
the flow of funds to the MSE sector.
The various measures to support exports include interest subvention of 2% for pre & post
shipment export credit for identified labour intensive industries, additional allocation
for export intensive schemes, additional funds towards providing guarantee by the Export
Credit Guarantee Corporations (ECGC) and enhancements of duty draw back benefits on certain
identified exportable items.
In addition, RBI has taken a number of steps to reduce the cost of credit and improve
liquidity for the industry such as reduction of the Repo rates, reverse Repo rates, Cash
reserve ratio etc.
The impact of various measures taken by the Government is visible in the improved performance
of the industrial sector in the last two quarters as given below
Table: Growth rates of Index of Industrial Production
2008-09 2009-10 April-June July- Sept Oct-Dec Jan-Mar April-June July- Sept
5.3 4.7 0.8 0.5 3.9 9.1