India's strategy of dealing with COVID-19 paid off, economy set to bounce back: Ficci

Ficci President Sangita Reddy on Sunday said India's strategy of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis has paid off and the country's economy is set to bounce back and emerge stronger.

She said it was time to take bold actions and push the growth agenda vigorously.

"The dilemma for governments across the world was creating a balance between protecting lives and livelihoods. India took the path of a strict lockdown to ramp up health infrastructure and focused on human lives. This strategy has paid off," Reddy said.

She observed that science evolved to give better cures, medical infrastructure was created, supplies like PPEs ramped up and our death rate has been contained.

"It's clearly time for bold actions on the livelihood front. The recent monetary policy assures that the government and the regulator will do everything it takes to keep the economy afloat. Let us start pushing our growth agenda vigorously," said Reddy.

"As we can see the initial green shoots of recovery have begun," she added.

Reddy noted that the PMI for manufacturing and services has recovered to 56.8 and 49.8, respectively in September 2020.

Besides, there has been a pick-up in e-way bill volumes, improvement in revenue earning freight traffic of major commodities, positive growth in exports and most significantly increase in the September GST collections to almost pre-COVID-19 level.

"These incremental trends are heartening and need to be sustained, and further initiatives like the consumption vouchers must continue to remain focused on demand generation," Reddy said.

The Ficci president asserted that India's inherent economic strengths and resilience remain intact.

"Given the progressive policies introduced by government, major infrastructure development plans in place, large consumer market, all point towards significant headroom for growth," Reddy said.

She highlighted the vibrancy of Indian entrepreneurs who are always able to spot an opportunity and move proactively, the capabilities and diligence of its working class, the commitment of its farmers and energy of its youthful population that seeks a better future, expressing confidence that the country is capable to bounce back and emerge stronger from this crisis.

"The number of new reported cases has fallen below 50,000. This indicates that the rate of spread of infection is being contained. Our recovery rate and case fatality ratio are much better compared to similar ratios for many other countries," the Ficci president stated.

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She said although our health data points to a healthier destiny, yet we must continue to educate on prevention and stay vigilant while gearing up for the vaccine.