Within days of taking extra charge of the Finance portfolio, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will preside over a meeting of an apex committee here today to consider big-time expenditure on infrastructure for giving a booster dose to the economy impacted by the global downturn.
The committee, comprising Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao, is also likely to consider sops for the exporters, distressed by a sharp decline in overseas trade.
"We have made certain proposals, which I hope will be discussed in the meeting," Ahluwalia told reporters at an Assocham function here, adding that the Prime Minister had suggested a counter-cyclical expansion of investment.
The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman would press for increased investment in infrastructure projects. "You can expect, I will be making a case," he said, adding expansion in resources is necessary through the use of foreign exchange reserves. IIFCL has already been rupee-financing the infrastructure projects besides having access to the RBI.
The PM's panel also has P Chidambaram and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath. But the two ministers would not be attending tomorrow's deliberations, as the former has since moved over to the Home Ministry, while Nath is out of city.
Proposals like interest rate cuts for the small and medium enterprises, and exporters were cleared by the Committee of Secretaries last week.
Exports, which account for 18 per cent of the country's GDP, plunged in October by over 12 per cent for the first time in seven years due to a severe demand slowdown in the US and Europe.
GDP grew by 7.8 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal as compared to 9.3 per cent in H1 of the previous year.