Over the last five days, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, had announced a series of measures to give a boost to the Indian economy. But it turned out that most of the major reforms announced by her were long term and most importantly, were pending reforms or old proposals which finally saw the light of the day.
Find the list below:
Definition of MSME: This has been a long-pending demand. Now finally, the government has announced a revised definition of MSMEs; revised investments limit; and the elimination of distinction between manufacturing and service sector. Better late than never.
Commercialisation of coal mining: This is not a completely new policy either, as India had already started offering coal mines to private companies only for commercial mining and sale purposes. Under this, the coal ministry has identified 60 mines already.
Seamless Mineral exploration: To enhance private investments in the mineral sector, a seamless composite exploration-cum-mining – cum production regime will be introduced. This policy mentioned at the fourth tranche was already proposed in the past.
Indigenisation of some imported spares in defence: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday as part of efforts to promote indigenous manufacturing said that indigenisation of some imported spares will also be given priority. Interestingly, this also has been proposed before.
Corporatisation of Ordnance Factories: In 2019, there was a proposal to convert Ordnance Factories from a government-owned public sector unit to a unit that can have functional and financial autonomy; and managerial flexibility. So, the government has decided to finally pass it at this time of crisis.
Privatisation of Airport: There was a proposal from Airports Authority of India (AAI) requesting the Centre to privatise airports at Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Tiruchirapalli, few months. This proposal was converted as a policy measure by the Indian government as a part of an economic package to tackle COVID-19-induced degrowth.
Better airspace optimisation: If the government announced it now, how did AAI start work over this in June 2019. AAI had signed a deal with Boeing in June, 2019 for better airspace management. This 10-year pact would involve the implementation of modern technologies and global practices which will allow India to increase its airspace capacity significantly. There is clearly a mismatch here.
Private sector’s greater participation in the space activity: This announcement was already part of a draft Bill by the Department of Space in 2017. However, this didn’t really see the light of the day. But it looks like this got attention during the COVID-19 crisis.
Privatisation of power distribution in UTs: Government think tank Niti Aayog had recommended privatisation of power in 2019. But it faced a lot of opposition. So, the plan was not considered later. But now with the privatisation of power distribution in Union Territories looks like the centre is tapping on the opportunity that COVID-19 has got them.
Statutory concept of National Floor Wage: It will be interesting to note that this is already part of Wages Bill, 2019 which was passed in Lok Sabha. Through Code on Wages, the methodology to fix the minimum wages has been simplified and rationalised by doing away with the type of employment as one of the criteria for fixation of the minimum wage. This code also covers timely payment on wages to all employees irrespective of the sector and wage ceiling.
