Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced the fourth tranche of the ₹ 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat economic package. The fourth tranche of Self Reliant India economic package focused on structural reforms of 8 sectors – coal, minerals, defence production, civil aviation, power distribution, social infrastructure, space, and atomic energy.

Policy Reforms to fast-track Investment

• Fast track Investment Clearance through Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS).
• Project Development Cell in each Ministry to prepare investible projects, coordinate with investors and central/state governments.
• Upgradation of Industrial Infrastructure will be implemented in States through Challenge mode for Industrial Cluster Upgradation of common infrastructure facilities and connectivity.
• Availability of Industrial Land/ Land Bank for promoting new investments and making information available on Industrial Information System (IIS) with GIS mapping.
  • 3376 industrial parks/estates/SEZs in 5 lakh hectares mapped on Industrial Information System(IIS).
  • All industrial parks will be ranked in 2020-21.

Coal sector

The government will reduce the import of coal and will introduce commercial mining in the Coal Sector through:

• Revenue sharing mechanism instead of the regime of fixed Rupee/tonne – any party can bid for a coal block and sell in the open market.
• Entry norms will be liberalized – Nearly 50 blocks to be offered immediately without eligibility conditions, only upfront payment with a ceiling.
• Partially explored blocks will also be auctioned and this will allow private sector participation in exploration.
• Coal Gasification / Liquefication will be incentivised through rebate in revenue share.
• ₹ 50,000 crores will be spent on creating evacuation infrastructure.
• Coal Bed Methane (CBM) extraction rights to be auctioned from Coal India Limited’s (CIL) coal mines.

Mining of minerals

• Introduction of a seamless composite exploration-cum-mining-cum-production regime – 500 mining blocks to be offered through this mechanism.
• Introduce Joint Auction of Bauxite and Coal mineral blocks to enhance Aluminum Industry’s competitiveness.
• Govt removes the distinction between captive and non-captive mines to allow the transfer of mining leases and sale of surplus unused minerals, leading to better efficiency in mining and production.
• Ministry of Mines is in the process of developing Mineral Index for different minerals.

Defence production

• FDI limit in the defence manufacturing under automatic route will be raised from 49% to 74%.
• The Government will notify a list of weapons that shall not be allowed for import and to be encouraged to make in India with consultation from the defence ministry. Separate budget provisioning for domestic capital procurement.
• Time-bound defence procurement and faster decision making by setting up a Project Management Unit (PMU) to support contract management. It will ensure a realistic setting of General Staff Qualitative Requirements of weapons/platforms and overhaul trial and testing procedures.

Civil Aviation

• Only 60% of Indian Airspace is freely available. The restrictions on the utilisation of Indian airspace are going be eased so that the flying of civilian aircraft becomes more efficient.
• Airport Authority of India (AAI) will auction six more airports for Operation and Maintenance on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.
• India to become a global hub for Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) – Convergence between the defence sector and the civil MROs will be established to create economies of scale.

Power distribution sector

• Tariff policy reforms to be announced soon.

• Power distribution companies in the union territories (UT) will be privatised.

Social Infrastructure Projects

• Government has made a provision of ₹ 8,100 crores which will be through viability gap funding (VGF).
• The government will enhance the quantum of Viability Gap Funding up to 30% each of Total Project Cost as VGF by Centre and State/Statutory Bodies.
• For other sectors, VGF existing support of 20% each from GoI and state/Statutory Bodies shall continue.

Space sector

• Indian private sector will be a co-traveller in India’s space sector journey – Private sector will be allowed to use ISRO facilities and other relevant assets to improve their capacities.
• Future projects for planetary exploration, outer space travel etc to be open for the private sector.
• Liberal geospatial data policy for providing remote-sensing data to tech-entrepreneurs

Atomic energy

• The Government will establish a research reactor in PPP mode for the production of medical isotopes–promote welfare of humanity through affordable treatment for cancer and other diseases.
• The Government will establish facilities in PPP mode to use irradiation technology for food preservation–to compliment agricultural reforms and assist farmers.
• Linking India’s robust start-up ecosystem to the nuclear sector–Technology Development cum Incubation Centres will be set up for fostering synergy between research facilities and tech-entrepreneurs.

The first tranche of the economic package included measures for the MSME, NBFC, and tax. The second tranche of the economic package included measures for the migrant labours, farmers, and street vendors. The third tranch of the economic package mainly focussed in agriculture and allied activities.