Aggarwal: need to fuel the drivers of household consumption and private investments
Excellent triple-digit growth at 134.4% posted by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in April 2021 after a double digit growth at 24.1% in March 2021 is highly encouraging and indicates strong resilience of the industry, said Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI).
The IIP growth stands strong at the level of 134.4% in April 2021 as compared with (-)57.3% in April 2020 and 3.2% in April 2019 on the back of various reforms undertaken by the government and non-tiring efforts by the industry, said Aggarwal in a statement on 11 June 2021.
Though triple-digit growth of IIP at 134.4% is also because of statistical effect on a low base of the IIP Index in April 2020, IIP Index at 126.6 in April 2021 is higher than the IIP Index of April 2019 at 126.5, which indicates that industry activity has re-emerged at April 2019 level, noted Aggarwal
The growth of IIP in April 2021 is supported by the growth of Consumer Durables at 1,944%, followed by Capital Goods at 1,077%, Infrastructure and Construction goods at around 564%, Intermediate goods at 209%, Manufacturing at 197%, among others.
Going ahead, to maintain the momentum, there is a need to fuel the drivers of household consumption and private investments to enhance the aggregate demand in the economy with more calibrated steps, Aggarwal pointed out.
Demand creation will have an accelerator effect on expansion of capital investments in the country, he added.
A substantial stimulus to mitigate the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic on the trade and industry would be crucial to support the economic momentum in this extremely difficult time, he said
More and more direct transfer benefits needs to be considered for the urban and rural poor under the various welfare schemes in addition to the free distribution of the already announced dry rations till Diwali.
The government and PSU payments particularly to MSMEs must not be delayed due to any shortage of staff caused by Work From Home system or due to shortage of funds since the MSMEs are already suffering from losses and liquidity issues resulting from lockdowns, Aggarwal highlighted.
At least 75% of the population of the country needs to be vaccinated with both doses at the earliest, not later than December 2021 to remove the uncertainty in the economy, he stressed. #investment #economy #trade #infrastructure #projects #contracts #banks /fiinews.com
