Coronavirus outbreak: FM Nirmala Sitharaman takes stock of situation

In four meetings, Sitharaman met Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri, Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh, and Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday met her ministerial colleagues and bureaucrats of various departments to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In multiple meetings, the ministries discussed the problems in their sectors, which are some of the worst-hit, and presented memorandums from stakeholders.

While the meetings on Friday were preliminary discussions, Business Standard has learnt that sectors like tourism; hospitality; aviation; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and livestock have sought deferring loan repayments and temporary tax holidays in specific cases to help them tide over the steep fall in economic activity.

Friday’s meetings were a precursor