Centre to announce Rs 100 lakh crore infra projects over the next five years to boost economy

According to reports, Nirmala Sitharaman's comments follow the data released on Friday that the GDP growth slid to 4.5% in the July-September quarter, its weakest since 2013, raising the pressure on the Narendra Modi government to quicken the pace of reforms.

“A set of officers are looking into the pipeline of projects that can be readied so that once the fund is ready, it could be front-loaded on these projects. That task is nearly completed. Before 15 December, we will be able to announce front-loading of at least ten projects," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the Economic Times Awards 2019 in Mumbai, media reported.

Sitharaman said she has toured the country meeting officers and discussing issues related to taxation to ensure that the tax department through its actions is not creating a perception of harassment.

The Centre is also continuously discussing with states about simplifying and rationalizing Goods and Services Tax, she said.

“We are willing to hear, react and intervene when necessary," said the minister.

The Finance Minister said the government's outreach programme to facilitate liquidity for the non-banking lenders has been a huge success and has resulted in loan disbursal of Rs 2.5 trillion during the festive season of Diwali and Navratras.

“It was not metropolitan districts that we focused, it is the hinterland where the liquidity went," the minister informed. 

In the last few months, the Centre took a series of steps to stimulate the economy, which include lowering the benchmark interest rate by RBI, a sharp cut in the corporate tax, loan outreach programmes, easing of foreign ownership regulations, capital infusion in state-owned banks among others.