Indian economy better placed to meet second Covid-19 wave with vaccination drive: CEA

19 Apr 2021 Evaluate

Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K V Subramanian has said that the Indian economy is in better shape to address the challenge of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic compared to last year as vaccines have been developed and vaccination drives are taking place. On saving lives and livelihoods, Subramanian said the government was driven by the simple goal of saving lives throughout the pandemic. He said ‘If you read the Mahabharata, there is this objective very clearly mentioned, ‘Saving a life that is in jeopardy is the origin of dharma.’ He stated ‘the essence of that was to actually save lives, which is what the government focused on at the start of the pandemic. We have sort of emerged from there.’

One key thing that has stood out during the pandemic is the role of e-commerce and digitisation that India has embraced. He said ‘I think the most salient example of this is if you take the way in which essentials were provided to you know almost 800 million people in India.’ This was done through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the use of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-mobile.  He said 'I think the Indian economy is really equipped to usher in significant growth, that is happening in e-commerce.'

He highlighted the importance of viewing ‘data’ as a public good, where it is about ‘of the people, by the people and for the people.’ That is an area where public-private partnerships can be really critical. The value-added data that can actually be generated by these public-private partnerships can be useful in healthcare, finance, trade, trade credit. Also, technologies such as blockchain would play a key role in pushing better data and at the same time take care of the privacy protocols. He mentioned India is among the leading economies in terms of embracing this change. India will definitely benefit from this change that has been brought by the Covid pandemic.

© 2025 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×