India Ready to Combat Second Wave of Covid-19: Finance Ministry Report

India is better prepared to counter the second wave of Corona. Statistics indicate that India is on its way to becoming better and stronger.

The Finance Ministry said that with the end of the challenges of 2020-21, a resilient and self-sustaining India will be seen in 2021-22 and the fiscal position of the Center has refined in recent months due to a boost in economic activity.

The New Delhi Finance Ministry has said in its monthly report that after successfully handling the first wave of coronavirus epidemic (Covid-19 pandemic), India is now better prepared to counter its second wave. The report says that the figures show that India is on its way to becoming better and stronger. According to the report, after suffering from a historical pandemic in the financial year 2020-21, the Indian economy is once again headed for better and stronger. This is reflected in the trends of many indicators.

The report said that paving the way for this spectacular comeback was strengthened by investment growth supported by the Self-Reliant India Mission and a massive increase in infrastructure and capital expenditure in the General Budget 2021-22. The report said that the increase in daily new cases from mid-February marked the starting of the second wave of Covid-19 infection in India, although there was a gap of 151 days between the first wave and the second wave, while in other countries the gap was much less.

The Finance Ministry said that with the end of the obstacles of 2020-21, a resilient and self-reliant India will be seen in 2021-22 and the fiscal position of the Center has improved in recent months due to a boost in economic activity. The reports said, the fiscal deficit of the Center was Rs 14.05 lakh crore during April 2020 to February 2021, which is 76 percent of the revised estimate 2020-21.

The fourth quarter saw a spurt in revenue receipts in the economy, sharing the spirit of financial federalism, during this period an additional amount of Rs 45,000 crore was disbursed to the states for 2020-2021. This was a boost of 8.2 percent over the revised estimate. The central government borrowed a total of Rs 13.7 lakh crore from the market during 2020-21, which it received at an average rate of 5.79 per cent. In the last 17 years, this was the lowest rate.