GUWAHATI, May 15 - Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said that the State is incurring a daily loss of Rs 1,000 crore during the lockdown period, even as he expressed optimism that the economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore announced by the Central government would get the State�s economy back on track.
Referring to a survey done by the Confederation of Indian Industry, which pegged the daily loss of the State at Rs 1,000 crore, the Chief Minister said that the stimulus announced by the Centre would bail the State out of the current crisis and also largely benefit the MSME sector, which forms the backbone of the industrial sector of the State.
�The MSMEs form 99.9 per cent of the industries in the State and the industrial sector contributes 39 per cent of the State�s GDP.
The Centre, in its economic package, has allocated Rs 3 lakh crore for the MSME sector of the country, which has come as a timely succour,� he told media-persons here today.
He informed that there are over one lakh MSMEs in the State, providing direct and indirect employment to 40 lakh people.
Sonowal further pointed out that the �Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan� announced by the Prime Minister will provide a major boost to local manufacturing, laying special stress on �production, procurement and marketing� of the local products.
�The tea and the agriculture sectors will also be immensely benefitted by the announcement made by the Centre vis-�-vis Provident Funds,� he said.
Sonowal said that the State government is still in the process of assessing the number of migrant workers who could permanently return to the State post-lockdown and is drawing out a plan to engage them in various sectors. �We are considering them as assets and not liabilities. We have a plan to enhance their skills and engage them in sectors that have been recommended as possible employment generation sectors by an economic expert panel constituted by the State,� the Chief Minister added.
