Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the Government has no plans of imposing a countrywide lockdown amid the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

She said that government does not want to totally arrest the economy and the second wave of COVID will be handled through isolation and quarantine methods at local levels.

The Minister stated this during virtual interaction with President World Bank Group David Malpass yesterday.

The Minister also shared the measures being taken by the country to contain the spread of the pandemic including the five pillared strategies of the test, track, treat, vaccination and covid appropriate behaviour.

Ms Sitharaman and Mr Malpass discussed various issues including Covid Vaccination, economic recovery, World Bank Group lending envelope for India and India’s strategy of green resilient and inclusive development.

The Minister also shared measures taken by the Government of India including distribution of LED bulbs, ethanol blending programme under National Bio-Fuel Policy, voluntary vehicle scrapping policy, incentivisation of Electric Vehicles to achieve green, resilient and inclusive development.

Ms Sitharaman welcomed the initiative of the World Bank Group for increasing lending space for India to enhance the availability of finance for development.