The 21 day long lockdown to fight the Coronavirus outbreak definitely has certain repercussions. The economy will face a spiral and the government has been taking measures to maintain the supply of essential commodities and help the needy to survive. Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, today announced several schemes like free replacement of gas cylinders for all Ujwala gas subsidy scheme beneficiaries, and Rs. 500 per month for the next three months to 20 crore women under Jan Dhan Yojana. The government has said that it will also front-load Rs. 2000 for farmers in the first week of April under the existing PM Kisan Yojana that will benefit 8.69 crore farmers and MNREGA wage has also been increased to Rs. 202 per day to benefit 5 crore families.
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Most importantly, the FM has also announced 50 lakh per person insurance cover for doctors, paramedic staff and healthcare workers dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak. The finance minister has also announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 1000 for three crore poor senior citizen, poor widows and disabled persons. Almost 80 crore poor people will also get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for the next three months. While the auto industry is welcoming this move made by the government to prevent a crisis situation, it has certain expectations as well in the long run.
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The industry is expecting some support in the long run.
Rajan Wadhera, President- SIAM said, “The announcement of Financial Action Plan of Rs. 1.7 lakh crore by Hon'ble Finance Minister to support our medical warriors, daily wage earners, farmers, construction workers, self-help groups, women, etc. will certainly entrust the faith of the vulnerable section of our society on the Government and support them in dealing with the immediate concerns caused by COVID 19. We hope the Government will also soon announce measures to support the automotive industry.” Speaking on similar lines, Dr, Pawan Munjal, Chairman- Hero MotoCorp said, “The package announced today by the Finance Minister is a very welcome move. These welfare measures will certainly mitigate the situation for those sections of the society, which have been affected most by the lockdown. I personally thank the Hon'ble Prime Minister and the Finance Minister for driving these welfare measures on priority to ensure that the underprivileged and the needy don't go hungry or face too many hardships during these times. We now look forward to a stimulus for the National Economy which will be most severely impacted due to the ongoing situation."
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The industry which is yet recovering from challenging situation of a prolonged slowdown period is expecting some support from the government. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has already estimated a minimum loss of Rs. 2300 crore each day. The coronavirus pandemic has hit the world and in-turn the nation at a time when the auto industry was already struggling with its way out of a prolonged slowdown that took over a lakh jobs and that's the biggest scare going forward. Moreover, the entire auto industry will be transitioning to BS6 in about a week's time and with dealerships closed across the nation, sales have definitely taken a hit, making the condition even bleaker for the Industry where stakeholders were looking forward to recover the invested amount. The industry has invested an estimated amount of ₹ 90,000 crore for BS6 transition.
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