New Delhi, Aug 26 (KNN) Structural reforms are a key priority of the government as has been reflected in the slew of measures and policies announced since the outbreak of COVID-19, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. 

Addressing a webinar organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday, Sitharaman stressed that every policy which was introduced had a structural component.

''Consequently, the reforms are having a significant impact on the recovery process which we are currently witnessing,'' she added.

Further, in order to facilitate the recovery process, the Home Ministry has given out directions to the state governments for imposing no curbs on the movement of people and inter-state movement of goods & services.

“There cannot be a better time for exemplar cooperation between government, regulators and industry to ensure that Indian comes out from the present crisis”, she added.

Taking cognizance of the fact that many sectors such as Tourism, Hotels & Hospitality, Real Estate & Construction and Airlines have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, the Minister said that these are critical sectors with significant multiplier impact on the economy. In order to ease the pain of few of these ailing sectors, the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for the hotels, banquets & related activities will be looked into, she assured. On the issue of strategic disinvestment, Sitharaman highlighted that there was a need to move fast on cabinet cleared disinvestment decisions.

On the issue of local manufacturing, Sitharaman said that Productivity Linked Incentives (PLIs) scheme has met with excellent response and has helped speed up manufacturing of critical bulk drugs and APIs in 6 states.

Further, the Finance Minister alluded that the infrastructure sector plays a key role in speeding up growth momentum, hence, to give its financing a further boost, external funds will also be welcome.