Nirmala Sitharaman Press Conference Live: Finance Minister To Announce Fourth Set Of Economic Measures Today 

The government also announced measures related to the atomic energy sector.

Research reactor under public-private partnership model will be set up for the production of medical isotopes. The government will establish facilities in PPP mode to use irradiation technology for food preservation.

The government will encourage private participation in the space sector, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The government will provide a level playing field for the private sector in satellite, launches and space-based services. The private sector will also be allowed to use ISRO facilities. In addition, future projects for planetary exploration will be open to the private sector.

The government plans to enhance viability gap funding for social sector projects, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Viability gap funding will be increased from 20 percent to 30 percent of the project cost. The total outlay for this is Rs 8,100 crore.

The government will take steps to privatise power distribution companies in union territories. Power departments and utilities in the territories will be privatised, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Inefficiencies of the distribution companies will not be allowed to hurt consumer, Sitharaman said, adding that power tariff reforms will be furthered. Measures such as power load shedding will be discouraged.

The government has announced the opening up airspace availability and said that six more airports will be privatised.

Only 60 percent of Indian airspace is freely available, said Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman. Restriction on utilisation of Indian airspace will now be eased. This will save Rs 1,000 crore in flying cost, she said.

In addition, six more airports have been identified for privatisation in the second round via the public-private partnership route. The government expects Rs 12,000 crore investment in the first and second round. The intention to do so was first announced last year.

India will be developed as a hub of maintenance, repair and overhaul operations both for the private and the defence sector.

The government has raised the foreign direct investment limit for defence production under the automatic route to 74 percent from 49 percent. At present

The government will also notify a list of weapons and platforms which will not be open for imports. Every year this list will be expanded, the finance minister said. A separate budget provision will be provided for local purchases, which will reduce the import bill of defence equipment, Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman said.

In addition, corporatisation of ordinance factory boards will be pursued.

The government will introduce a seamless composite exploration-cum-mining-cum-production regime.

• Under this regime, 500 mining blocks would be offered through a open and transparent auction process.
• The government will remove the difference between captive and non-captive mines. This will allow transfer of mining leases and sale of surplus minerals.
• Joint auctions for bauxite and coal mines will be conducted to help the aluminium industry.
• A mineral index will be created.
• Rationalisation of stamp duty payable at the time of award of mining leases

For the coal sector, the government said that commercial mining is being permitted. The move had been initiated earlier when the parliament passed the Mineral laws (Amendment) Bill in March 2020.

The government will move towards a revenue sharing mechanism instead of fixed pricing, to ensure competition, transparency and encourage private sector participation. Coal Bed Methane extraction will also be auctioned.

The government will spend Rs 50,000 crore to create evacuation facilities once coal is mined.

The government said that structural reforms will be focused on eight sectors. These include:

• Coal
• Minerals
• Defence Production
• Airspace management and maintenance
• Airports
• Power distribution companies in Union Territories
• Space
• Atomic Energy

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said there is a need to simplify rules in certain sectors, as she began the fourth tranche of announcements under the government’s Rs 20 lakh crore economic support program.

Today’s measures are focused on structural reforms for sectors which will be new horizons for growth, Sitharaman said. She added that the Prime Minister’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat plan is intended to make India self-reliant but not inward-focused.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is announcing the fourth set of measures under the Prime Minister’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme—a post pandemic financial plan that’s aimed to help the economy recover from the impact of Covid-19.

Through the week, Sitharaman has unveiled three tranches of measures. On Wednesday, the measures were aimed at supporting small businesses, non-banking financial firms and power distribution companies. Thursday’s set of announcements were to provide relief for migrant workers, farmers and the urban poor. The third series of measures were aimed around strengthening and reforming the agricultural infrastructure in the country.

Here are the top highlights from Friday’s announcements:

• New Rs 1 lakh crore agriculture infrastructure fund to be established.
• A new scheme worth Rs 10,000 crore aimed at formalisation of micro food enterprises.
• Allocated Rs 20,000 crore for fishermen through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana which was announced in the Union Budget 2020.
• Another fund of Rs 15,000 crore for developing animal husbandry infrastructure has will be set up.
• Amendments will be brought to the Essential Commodities Act to deregulate foods like cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potatoes.
• Agriculture marketing reforms will be implemented through a new central law that will remove barriers to inter-state trade.
• Farmers will be given price and quality assurance through facilitative agriculture produce