Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0: FM Nirmala Sitharaman's big Diwali bonanza; announces fresh stimulus of Rs 2.65 lakh crore

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced fresh stimulus of Rs 2,65,080 crore to boost the coronavirus-hit economy ahead of Diwali.

Adressing the press conference, the FM announced 12 new measures that can be called the next step in the series of stimulus announcements -- pronouncing it as Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0. FM added that the overall cost of the packages announced till date is estimated at Rs 29,87,641, which is 15 percent of the country's GDP.

"I would like to announce a few new measures in the series of stimulus announcements we have been doing...Quite a few indicators showing a distinct recovery in the economy," the FM said.

Sitharaman's 12 stimulus announcements gave major thrust to housing sector, Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, R&D grant for COVID Vaccine Development scheme, Capital and Industrial Stimulus, Support for Agriculture.

FM announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana operational during period from October 1, 2020 to June 2021 to incentivise creation of new employment opportunities during COVID recovery phase. The employment scheme effective from October 1 will be applicable to eligible new employees joining the EPFO-registered establishments and for those who exited these concerns during the COVID pandemic (March 1-September 30, 2020) and drawing monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000. Ccentral government will subsidise the Employees` Provident Fund (EPF) contributions for two years.

Centre will provide 12 percent of the contributions of both employers and the employee for establishments with up to 1,000 employees. For establishments with over 1,000 employees, the Centre will only subsidise 12 percent of the employees` EPF contributions. Establishments eligible for the scheme include those that added a specified number of employees compared with the base month of September 2020.

She also announced the launch of Emergency credit line guarantee scheme 2.0 for guaranteed credit to 26 stressed sectors. Tenor of additional credit under ECLGS 2.0 to be 5 years, including 1 year of moratorium on principal repayment.

The finance minister last month had announced a slew of measures to spur demand and ramp-up capital expenditure. This was the third stimulus package since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government had announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKP) in March to protect the poor and vulnerable sections from the impact of COVID-19 crisis. It was followed by the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package of Rs 20.97 lakh crore in May, largely focussed on supply-side measures and long-term reforms.