Indians have to be "vocal about local' products as India fight coronavirus, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in his televised address to the nation. The number of Covid-19 infections in India touched 70,756 and deaths topped 2,290, according to the health ministry.
PM Modi also announced a special economic package and said the recent decisions by the government, the decisions by the RBI combined with Tuesday's financial package announcement come to about Rs 20 trillion - nearly 10 percent of India's GDP.
He said that India's lockdown will be extended, but also emphasised that it will be completely different from that of the earlier ones. The guidelines for the fourth phase of lockdown will be put out before May 17.
Here's what Modi said in his speech:
India can become self-reliant through 5 pillars:
1) Economy: An economy that takes quantum jumps and not incremental gains.
2) Infrastructure: Infrastructure is synonymous with a modern India.
3) Our system: A system that helps us realise dreams, which is based on tech-driven facilities.
4) Demography: Vibrant demography our strength.
5) Demand: The demand and supply chain, we need to utilise the potential. We need to increase demand in the nation. Each stakeholder must be active.
"The world has been fighting coronavirus since four months. One virus has destroyed the world. This is an unprecedented crisis; we have to protect ourselves and move ahead as well"."India didn't produce any PPE before Covid-19 crisis and manufactured very few N-95 masks; now we are producing 2 lakh of each. India's self-reliance addresses concerns about world's happiness, cooperation and peace"
"Coronavirus going to be part of our lives for long time, but we can't let our lives revolve around it only. In this hour of crisis, local suppliers have met our demands."
"Scientists say that virus will be a part of our lives for a very long time. But we can't let our lives remain confined around Coronavirus. We will wear masks and maintain social distancing but we will not let it affect us. We will fight the virus and we will move forward."
"Global brands that are there today were once local too but when people there started supporting them they became global. Indians should come together to boost local production."