A big zero: Mamata reacts on Modi's ₹20 lakh crore economic package

"A big zero", West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said as she took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special economic package worth Rs 20 lakh crores amid the coronavirus crisis. "The state gets nothing. There is nothing in public spending, money transfer, and nothing for COVID," she told reporters minutes after Sitharaman shared details of the package.

"It is an eyewash, they are cheating the people. This is bulldozing federal structure, " Banerjee added.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced Rs 3 lakh crore of collateral-free loans for small businesses, cut the tax rate for non-salary payments and provided liquidity to non-banking companies to help them tide over the disruptions caused by the lockdown. Sitharaman said Rs 90,000 crore liquidity infusion will be made in electricity distribution companies to help them fight the current financial stress.

She said the rate of tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collected at source (TCS) for non-salaried payments up to March 31, 2021, will be cut by 25 per cent. The move will release Rs 50,000 crore in the system, she said.