FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces 'Infra projects worth 102 lakh crores identified'

Forging India's investment plan for 2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Tuesday, announced the Investment task force has identified infrastructure projects worth 102 lakh crore for the next 5 years, at the year-ending Finance Ministry press briefing. The task force which was formed in August has consulted with 70 stakeholders to identify the key projects, said the Finance Minister. Highlighting the key areas of investment areas, Sitharaman listed -  Power - including renewable, railways, agriculture, irrigation, mobility, health, water, and digital sector.

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FM: "102 lakh crore worth infra projects"

"In line with the announcement made by PM in his Independence Day 2019 speech, to make infrastructure investment worth Rs. 100 lakh crore for the next five years, a task force was formed to identify projects. Today, the task force has identified Rs 102 lakh crore worth of projects, after conducting 70 stakeholder consultations in a short period of four months. Power - including renewable, railways, agriculture, irrigation, mobility, health, water, and digital sector form the bulk of the pipeline project," said Sitharaman. This announcement of the Finance Minister comes ahead of the Union Budget which will be presented by her on February 1, 2020.

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CII predicts Economy rise in 2020

Earlier on Monday, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) predicted that the economy would recover and overcome its slowdown in 2020. The CII president Vikram Kirloskar that there would be a subdued GDP in the third quarter as well, he maintained that the economy would bounce back in the period thereafter. This development comes a few days after the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a UK based think tank stated that India would achieve the goal of $5 trillion economy by the year 2026. 

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Indian Economy hits 7-year low with 4.5% GDP

Earlier in November 29, India's second-quarter GDP (July-September) numbers stood at 4.5% - the slowest growth in almost seven years. The previous quarter (April-June) GDP numbers were at 5% and the Q2 (2018-2019) stood at 7%. This development comes inspite of the government's various economic moves like the merger of 9 PSU banks into 4, major corporate tax cuts, policy changes in the automobile sector, reduction in tax regulations to boost foreign income, attract investors and increase the consumer demand. The government currently follows the base year of 2011-12.

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