Will hold meetings to chalk out action plan; FM plays down price rise concerns
The Union government is likely to announce “immediate measures” to address the operational issues being faced by industry and ease congestion at ports on the east coast as consignments from China pile up amid the coronavirus scare.
“We will come up with immediate measures that are required to address the challenges, be it at ports, related to logistics or freight movements. Freight clearances at ports will be expedited and manpower requirements will be increased, along with 24×7 services,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the representatives from various industries at a meeting in New Delhi. The meeting was held to assess the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on Indian industry.
The government is expected to hold a series of meetings starting from Wednesday and will announce the first set of measures in the coming few days. Sitharaman said coronavirus would not lead to any price rise, but added this was a major concern highlighted by the industry representatives who cited congestion at ports. Senior officials said the government was exploring various measures to tide over the situation, including giving relief to micro, small and medium enterprises in servicing their loans.
“Banks will be encouraged to extend the window of servicing the loans by MSMEs by 15 days or so, as it will be a ‘force majeure’ event,” an official said. Another official said that to enable banks to do so, firms across sectors might invoke ‘force majeure’ with their suppliers and partners in China…
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