On the other hand, Finance is a very broad term that describes the idea of management of large amounts of money through activities associated with banking, debit, credit, money and investments.

With the continuous advancements in the field of science and technology, there has been the involvement of technology in almost every branch of knowledge that exists in this world be it security, food, currency, architecture, medicine, art, astronomy and so on. Simultaneously, technology has also proved to be fortuitous in the field of finance and that too on a very high scale. Thus, the branch which deals with the symbiosis between finance and technology and consists of software, applications and other digital services that are used by the consumers for activities like mobile banking, investments and loans, is referred to as ‘FinTech,’ a portmanteau of Financial Technology. 

‘Tech’ in ‘Fin’- Applications

Customer Service is one of the major sectors that has exploited Financial Technology in the last few years. A decade ago, an efficient customer service team was essential in order to carry out the financial tasks involved within a company. But, with the advancements in FinTech, AI chatbots have made consumers’ life way too easier and act as an avenue for customers to interact with. The chance of error is significantly reduced and the workload on humans is also minimised. Earlier we needed a separate team to carry out the bank work but now with the evolution of FinTech, we don’t even need to go to the bank personally to open a bank account, transfer cash or update the details. Everything can be done conveniently by using banking apps and other such software on smartphones.

In finance, computer programming has been proved to be extremely useful in a wide range of situations which include setting up and managing electronic trading systems, pricing derivatives, risk management, trade management platforms and so on. Python, in particular, is important for the latter three. Python can also help in creating analytical tools and models and can even modify Excel Spreadsheets to provide greater efficiency. Another advantage of using this language is that it provides a large array of libraries that can be effectively used in finance to build financial models and perform other mathematical operations. 

Some useful Python libraries and packages include –

• numpy: This package is used for performing scientific and computational tasks on python. Besides that, it is also used in numerical programming, finance, industry, academia and so on. With its roots in all these fields, this library specializes in basic array operations.
• pyfin: If the user wants to perform basic options pricing in python, they can simply use the pyfin library.
• ffn: This is a financial function library for python. It is basically used to quickly carry out analysis of trading strategies and financial asset price series and contains many useful functions for those who work in quantitative finance.
• QuantPy: This is a framework created primarily for quantitative finance in python. It has a Portfolio Class that can import daily returns from search engines like Yahoo.
• zipline: This is a Python based algorithmic trading library. Besides being an event-driven system, it also reinforces backtesting and live trading.
• TA-Lib: This is a software that is widely used by software developers involved in trading and required to perform the analysis of financial market data technically. Another advantage is that it has an open-source Application Program Interface (API) for Python.
• trade: This Python framework is used for the development of financial applications. Once the user informs the items he has in stock and a series of subsequent occurrences with those or other items, trade calculates the effects of those purchases, sales and so on and by and by gives back the new amounts and cost of items in stock.
• QuantSoftware Toolkit: This is an open-source software framework on Python, designed to support portfolio construction and management. This QS Toolkit is primarily for finance students, computing students as well as quantitative analysts with programming experience.
• finmarketpy- This is a python-based library that enables us to analyse market data and simultaneously backtest trading strategies using a convenient Application Program Interface, which already has the templates to define backtest.
• pyfolio:  This is a Python library used primarily for risk analysis and performance of financial portfolios. It works efficiently with the Zipline open-source backtesting library.
• finance: This is also mainly used for Financial Risk Calculations. It has been so optimized such that it is easy to use because of features like Class Construction and Operator Overload.
• qfrm: It is abbreviated form of Quantitative Financial Risk Management. It constitutes amazing Object Oriented Programming tools for measuring, managing and visualizing risk of financial instruments and portfolios.
• visualize-wealth: If the user wants to backtest, construct, analyse or evaluate portfolios and their benchmarks then he can easily use this library in Python to perform all the tasks mentioned above.
• empirical: This is used by both zipline and pyfolio and is used for common financial risk analysis and also in performance metrics.
• statsmodels: If the users want to explore data, estimate statistical models or perform other statistical tests then they can use this Python module.
• ARCH: This is used to perform financial econometrics in Python.

Java is another popular language that is used in the banking industry. This is primarily due to its secure and stable design. Java is a platform-independent and portable language and thus it can easily run on the newer versions as well even when a change was made. It is necessary to install a security system since banks handle a lot of sensitive and confidential information. Java acts as a stimulus and helps banks perform all the tasks while maintaining an appropriate level of confidentiality.

Data Visualization in FinTech

Most of the people in this world are visual learners i.e., they prefer to visualize a certain concept to understand it more thoroughly. Charts and graphs allow the users to understand the growth or depreciation of a certain thing by comparing it with the previously stored data. Histograms are the best means to represent such data statistically. A manager can take large quantities of data, can see the bigger picture more clearly and can provide a concise report.

Data visualization is the creation of visual representations of data that clearly communicate insights through charts and graphs. These charts and graphs help leaders and decision-makers make better, data-based decisions more quickly than the traditional data table. And it keeps them from getting lost in a Where’s Waldo-style puzzle maze of stats and data points. (Sisence, 2020)

Data visualization allows us for quick interpretation of results. We can easily create a chart of the data and see the trends of that particular data over a period of time or over any other variable. For example-

This visual data representation is split into a percentage gauge in addition to a detailed bar chart and will help you to accurately calculate your Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT).

Data Visualization can be easily done using the Financial Toolbox in MATLAB. It provides numerous easy-to-digest functions for mathematical modelling and statistical analysis of financial data. We can analyse, backtest and optimise investment portfolios taking into account the turnover, transaction costs, semi-continuous constraints and minimum or maximum number of assets. This toolbox also enables us to estimate risk, analyse yield curves, price fixed-income instruments and European options, and measure investment performance. (MathWorks, 2021)

Stochastic Differential Equation(SDE) tools let us model and stimulate a variety of stochastic processes. Time series analysis functions can also help us perform various productive tasks. They let us perform transformations and regressions with missing data and convert between different trading calendars and day-count conventions. (MathWorks, 2021)

There are various other libraries in our hand which are used for data visualization in finance-

Matplotlib- This has established itself as the benchmark for data visualization and is a robust, reliable and efficient tool modelled after MATLAB’s plotting capabilities. It can be used to create static image files of almost any plot type. (Foy,2021)

Seaborn- This is another common data visualization library that is based on Matplotlib and provides a high-level interface for drawing attractive and informative statistical graphs. (Foy,2021)

Plotly & Dash- Since all the previous graphs were static and could not be altered and interacted with in any way. Plotly library solves this problem using which python creates interactive plots as .html files. Users can zoom in, select, hover and perform several such tasks with these plots but in order to regenerate a plot to see updates you need to re-run the .py script. Dash helps to resolve this problem. Instead of creating a .html file, Dash produces a dashboard web application at your localhost which you can then conveniently visit and interact with. (Foy,2021)

Some other prominent libraries include Pandas and Time Series Visualization which are extremely useful as well.

Business Intelligence (BI)

Business Intelligence has been defined as “a set of methodologies, processes, architectures, and technologies that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information used to enable more effective strategic, tactical, and operational insights and decision-making.” (Forrester, 2021) Thus, Forrester refers to data preparation and data usage as two separate but closely linked segments of the business-intelligence architectural stack.

Business intelligence can help companies make better and appropriate decisions by showing them the present data as well as the historical data within their desired context. BI can be used by analysts to provide performance and competitor benchmarks to make the organization run smoother and more efficiently. Market trends can also be easily spotted to increase sales or revenue.

The best way to present BI is through Data Visualization.

Listed below are few ways in which business intelligence(BI) can help companies make smarter, data-driven decisions:

• Identify ways to increase profit
• Analyse customer behaviour
• Compare data with competitors
• Track performance
• Optimize operations
• Predict success
• Spot market trends
• Discover issues or problems

Conclusion

BI is rapidly evolving according to the needs of the business foundations and technologies. Companies are striving to be more data-driven and efforts to share and collaborate data are continuously increasing. In the future, we can definitely say that data visualization will be even more essential to work together across teams and departments.

And with the continuous advancements in technology and science, we can definitely hope to see a new phase, a new era of modernization where FinTech would rule the world of finance.

References

Evelson, B., & Nicolson, N.(2008). Topic overview: Business intelligence.  https://www.forrester.com/report/Topic+Overview+Business+Intelligence/-/E-RES39218#

Foy, P. (2021). Python for Finance: Data Visualization. https://www.mlq.ai/python-for-finance-data-visualization/#:~:text=%20Python%20for%20Finance%3A%20Data%20Visualization%20%201,Python%20data%20visualization%20library%20based%20on…%20More%20

MathWorks. (2021). Financial Toolbox. https://in.mathworks.com/products/finance.html

Finance Train. (2019). Best Python Libraries/Packages for Finance and Financial Data Scientists. https://financetrain.com/best-python-librariespackages-finance-financial-data-scientists/

8020 Consulting. (2020). The Growing Power of Data Visualization in Finance. https://8020consulting.com/data-visualization-in-finance/

CFI. (n.d.). Programming. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/programming/

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It is only recently in India that litigation financing has received its due attention considering its innumerous benefits for the three parties involved- clients, lawyers, and financers. Globally, the concept of litigation financing is quite popular, but India is still an infant in this form of financial tool. Considering the potential market in India, many international funders and legal firms have developed an institution that will self-regulate this third-party funding concept, known as the Indian Association for Litigation Finance. This will ensure a smooth and ethical mode of conducting this new method of financing with a more structured institutionalization. (Benwal, 2020)

Parties Involved in Litigation Financing

The parties involved in the process of third-party funding can be precisely categorized into the following:

1. Plaintiffs or Clients: These are individuals or companies that need fund assistance for their case. They use external funders to monetize their legal expenses that are incurred in the duration of their claims. This helps them to have a more flexible way as money is no longer their constraint,
2. Investors: The investors are the third-party funders that invest in these legal claims in return for the future proceeds that the client may earn on winning the case. They can also invest in the litigation process of a defendant, in which they would receive the proceeds that their client might be able to defend.
3. Lawyers or Law firms: They are basically the facilitators of the different stakeholders involved in the litigation process. They keep an account of the funds and claims during the conduct of the litigation process. This helps them attain recoveries and achieve their outcome in a more sustainable manner.

Growing Relevance of Litigation Financing Globally

Litigation financing has developed and received maximum attention in the last few years worldwide. Although its existence dates to the 1980s, it is only in the last decade that people have actually started understanding the concept and its importance in the legal spectrum.

It has brought in the realization that when looked from the investment point of view, it is an investment that remains unaffected from the other business cycles. Globally, the emergence of litigation financing has only caught the pace in the 1990s and 2000s. this involves Australia, UK, USA predominantly. In Australia, this concept developed in the 1990s after the legalization of class action lawsuits in 1992. This rose the need for a more structured and legal system of investments for group claims since this required a large chunk of money during the legal procedures.

In the UK, this concept developed around the same time as Australia, although it only got popular after the Access to Justice Act 1999 which provided other methods of funding than the already existing traditional methods. With the legalization of the third-party funding, the UK market saw a significant rise in such investment companies, opening door to a new kind of investment and a new addition to the economy.

The USA although had the concept of litigation financing prior to these countries, it was only however limited to the personal injury cases. However, after 2006, the concept has now been broadened and many companies are now using litigation financing to claim their dues. The state is trying to promote this method and it has been significantly growing thereafter.
In India, there is however no legal restrictions on this mode of legal financing through the third party but the concept still hasn’t picked up the pace as it should according to its potential. Even though it looks simple, the third-party funding has some complications and that is why it will also require proper structure and regulation for it to flourish in the Indian markets. (Whillans, 2017)

Role of Regulations in View of the Complexities

There are a number of complexities involved when we talk about third-party funding. Since it is still a new concept, it is very important to have proper knowledge, structure, rules and regulations for the smooth conduct of this procedure. There are possibilities if fraudulent practices when it comes to third party funding. There are also issues related to the lack of transparency by the funded party or conflict of interest among the stakeholders.

When we talk about third party funding in the Indian context, the main issue is that investors obviously look for quick return policies, but the Indian legal system is designed in such a way that any case takes a lot of years to get solved finally. This is one of the reasons why investors are not extremely comfortable investing their large chunks of money and waiting for such a long period of time. The next issue faced is that the lawyers are not motivated enough to take up the cases very actively since they do not feel the ownership since the money is invested by a third party. Such issues call for regulations for the smooth conduct of this growing system.

As of now, there is no legal organization that facilitates or regulated the third party funding in India. However, with the coming of this new year, a self-regulatory body is being launched on the 7^th January that will be responsible for the conduct of this system. India has previously faced a number of legal scams and in the view of this, the regulatory body is hoped to bring a positive impact and build customer trust and verified services. The self-regulatory body is named Indian Association for Litigation Finance and is looked forward to bring in a more inclusive and transparent system. (Benwal, 2020)

Litigation Financing and Covid-19 – A Way Forward

2020 has been an unpredictable year for most businesses across the world. In India too we have seen the disruptions that this pandemic has brought with itself. The aftereffects of the months-long lockdown are still being felt across the nation and even globally. But such times call for innovations and economies are finding ways to hit back. Covid-19 has accelerated the demand for immediate working capital and this helps to boost the investment sector. This has, in turn, opened doors for the concept of third-party funding. On the other hand, the pandemic will also lead to a number of concerns as the primary motive of the funder is to at least cover their investment amount but with this pandemic and the current situation of the economy, it a major cause of concern as the quantum assessment has only gotten tougher.

To overcome the concerns, India would require a properly regulated system to move forward. However, the bottom line is that the pandemic has definitely opened wider doors for third party funding to flourish in the Indian markets given that we develop a proper system and develop a long term structural change that helps all the stakeholders involved in third party funding.

Conclusion

Funders are currently very sceptical to invest in any litigation financing. Surveys suggest that only 1 in 10 applications are accepted by the funders as the uncertainties of returns is very high. This is currently the most important reason why the Indian market is not running on its full potential when we talk about litigation financing. (Indge,2020)

If litigation financing is promoted positively, it can help all the stakeholders in a significant manner. The comparatively poor clients can have a chance of getting their claims and on the other hand, funders can be encouraged to invest with proper legal structure. For any new system to work smoothly, the government has to come up with regulations and at the beginning of this year, we have one such organization that can help this new concept grow widely in India. It is a very innovative method of financing and can change the way our legal system is currently working.

A very important regulatory body – Indian Association for Litigation Finance is being launched and it is hoped that this can bring a significant development in litigation financing.

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“Everybody is a genius in a bull market” — Mark Cuban 

What is a Bubble? 

A bubble is an economic cycle driven by sentiments leading to the rapid growth of index valuation, followed by a sudden downfall. Due to the increase in prices, investors refrain from parking their money in the equity market. This results in a huge sell-off causing the bubble to deflate. This increase in index valuation is dependent on various factors. 

What Might Be the Possible Factors Fuelling the Rally? 

● High Liquidity:- A sudden halt experienced in business activities generated unemployed capital. Businesspersons diverted this unused cash in hand towards equity markets resulting in an increase in demand. They viewed the continuous extensions of the lockdown as a financially gainful opportunity and thus increased investment in the equity markets. Banks were directed to increase liquidity in the economy as well. 

● New Investors:- The interruption of the activities of the tertiary sector and academic institutions created a new group of investors. College students, working professionals and business persons alike started investing vigorously in a not-so-risk-free equity market. DEMAT account openings witnessed a sudden rise of 22.9% in the current year. In India, 

the number of DEMATs accounts has now rallied to 4.9 million. New to the scenario, these investors who have little to no knowledge of stock market operations, blindly followed the bull-run and contributed to the rally. 

● Global Sentiments:- Indian markets have always closely followed the American markets. The Federal Bank of USA has been keen on increasing liquidity in the American economy. Resultantly, NASDAQ and DJIA have reached record highs. Indian stock market has been following the path and now witnessing a continuous rally like their American counterpart. 

● The hope of reopening:- In the initial stages of the imposition of the lockdown, it was forecasted that development would impede for 6-8 months. Panic selling caused equity markets to go haywire. Duly, the indices hit two lower circuits in a single week and wiped out almost Rs. 14.22 Lakh Crore from the equity markets. Remarkably, the economy started getting back on track within a couple of months and the businesses started functioning. Therefore, the equity market went on to correct itself and retraced almost 67.30%. 

Despite these positive sentimental events, the stock market is fundamentally weak and might run into correcting itself soon, causing a fall. 

When Can the Fall Come? 

The ‘Dot Com’ bubble lasted for almost 5 years from 1995 to 2000 which indicates the unpredictable time frame of the crash. Likewise, the stock market might take more than a few days before correcting itself, especially due to the recent vaccine development speculations and hopes of economic recovery. 

What Could Lead to the Fall? 

• Trade War:- China and U.S. are in the midst of a trade face-off. The two superpowers have been in a tussle for a while and any further sanctions might lead to a global breakdown. 
•  Failure in Vaccine Development:- One of the major reasons for the rally in the equity markets was based on hopes of early vaccine development for COVID-19. If the major companies like Pfizer fail do develop the vaccine, a huge sell-off may occur leading to a crash. 
•  Indo-China Clash:- NIFTY 50 had shed almost 150 points in 20 minutes on 16/06/2020 when the news about border tensions between India and China first broke out. This indicated how equity markets reacted to such news. While the situation is stable now, any further actions on this front by either government may break the equity market. 
• Lockdown:- Indian economy has managed to survive the previous national lockdown and the subsequent extensions. Now, the government is posed with the choice of choosing between saving its people or saving the economy. Although a complete lockdown might be required to stop the spread of the virus, further extensions might break the backbone of the Indian economy, potentially leading to a huge crash. 

Indicators of Reversal 

• Fibonacci Retracement shows that the markets might reverse from 11,382 and might go down to 10800, 10350 and might even break to 9900 levels. The markets have already corrected more than 67% and a reversal is on cards. 
• Fundamentals suggest a huge turn around in the markets. With Q1 earnings release round the corner, sentiments can weaken which could be devastating for the markets.
• Shiller PE Ratio The cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio, commonly known as CAPE, Shiller P/E, or P/E 10 ratio, is a valuation measure usually applied to the Indices. It is defined as price divided by the average of ten years of earnings, adjusted for inflation. 

Conclusion

In the coming quarters, there is a risk of GDP growth rate in India taking a negative turn. The sentiments will be conclusive in shaping the equity markets. In addition, vaccine development, economic recovery and global cues might well decide the course of the markets. 

Technical and fundamental analysis of the Indices indicates a potential reversal. Buyers must remain cautious now. 

The indices usually correct themselves abruptly. In such cases, blind investors often get trapped. Consequently, any investment should be made cautiously and any directional trades should be hedged appropriately. 

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Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the top sectors in Africa with immense growth potential. The sector contributes to over 15% of Africa’s GDP and has shown a good growth rate due to prior government policies that prioritise the sector to retain its sustainability and competitiveness. The top-earning agricultural products are coffee, cocoa, maize and wheat with Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Uganda as the top producers.

Large areas of arable land, increasing use of technology, massive youth dividend, increasing government support and a large demand base make agriculture an attractive sector for investment despite the problem of erratic rainfall pattern in some places.

By the year 2050, it has been predicted that Africa’s population will almost double with a growth rate of 2.7% per annum. To meet the growing needs of the population, substantial investment from its global peers is absolutely necessary. That will also help the sector to grow and enhance its status as a global competitor, help in economic diversification and also mitigate the prominent problems of undernourishment, poverty and hunger that exist in the region.

Manufacturing Sector

Africa possesses an abundance of raw materials that can be easily turned to manufactured products for greater reliance on local products and increased exports of the same. The top three manufacturers in Africa are Egypt, South Africa and Morocco.

The growth of manufacturing can greatly drive economic growth and development in Africa. However, the sector faces challenges like lack of skilled-workforce, infrastructure gaps including low power supply and inadequate regulatory measures to address the prominent challenges. The import to export ratio of manufactured products in Africa is very high as Africa mostly exports unprocessed commodities. The growing manufacturing sector is making great advances in this aspect. It has already increased the total export goods from 18.7% in 2012 to 35.6% in 2017 and caused a significant decrease in imports implying greater importance to domestically manufactured products.

There has also been a shift in the focus of FDI projects from the dominant extractive industry to consumer-facing industries like retail, technology, media, etc. This trend is expected to continue in the near future.

Retail Sector

The African Development Bank is expecting the current 350-million-strong middle class to grow to under one billion by 2040. The growing middle-class demography is contributing to the growth and modernization of the retail sector which is greatly devoid of supply competition and requires investment to meet the growing consumer base. The market for essential goods constitutes the majority of consumer spending owing to the low-income levels in the economy and as the income-level status is not expected to undergo a drastic change in the recent future, the comparatively smaller market for luxury products will have a low growth rate.

As a large amount of consumer spending in Africa taking place in informal markets, due to the absence of prominent formal retail presence, is unaccounted for, Africa is projected as an economy with low household retail-spending despite that not being the case.

“The Brookings Institute’s latest analysis on trends of the African consumer market shows that consumer expenditure has grown at a compound annual rate of 3.9% since 2010 and reached US$1.4 trillion in 2015. This figure is expected to increase to US$2.5 trillion by 2030.”

There are several cyclical challenges related to the retail sector, like low GDP growth, high inflation, dwindling credit extension. The challenges can be used as opportunities to enhance the growth of the sector by focusing on the development of the retail infrastructure and modern logistics spaces to satiate the demand for high-quality space from retailers looking to expand in Africa.

Finance

Finance is one of the top sectors in Africa which regulates the funding of all the other sectors. Financial innovation guarantees the diversification of banking sector services and facilitates the incorporation of capital market instruments to reduce investment risk.

Rwanda, The Gambia and Senegal have shown massive progress in financial system rankings. However, there has been an overall decline in Africa’s global financial standing from 2017 – 2018 due to a fall in the pace of reform of this sector.

The impact investing industry has shown substantial growth and is quite relevant as several countries in Africa lie below the global average score for Human Development (0.8) with declining levels of official assistance. The industry has made an abundant impact across a wide range of sectors like Healthcare, Agriculture, Housing, Education and others. This provides ample opportunities for investment in several initiatives which will reap both financial and environmental returns.

Some of the prominent threats to this sector include underdeveloped market infrastructure due to limited funding, difficulty in gathering viable investment to meet financial and social targets, limited capital supply, unclear regulatory environment, inconsistent impact-measures and so on. These might prove to be a disincentive to many and hinder their investments. However, a far-sighted investor might implement innovative measures to meet the pending gaps and turn these challenges into opportunities to optimise social and environmental investments.

Infrastructure

Infrastructural inadequacy causes a huge hindrance to investment and growth in all sectors of Africa. There is a wide gap between the infrastructure needs of the continent and the amount being spent on fulfilling the need. There is an urgent need to bridge the gap through sufficient investment to meet the growing needs of Africa.

In countries like East Africa, Ethiopia and Tanzania, infrastructure investments in the form of new roads, energy support, transportation networks and others have led to guaranteed growth and transformation of the prevailing sectors. Construction has been primarily responsible for high economic expansion in Egypt. Infrastructural developments lead to employment generation via contractors, boosting aggregate demand. Investment in infrastructure by foreign players can prove to be very beneficial as it would provide the required sophistication to the local industry by supplying goods needed for large projects.

Real estate has evolved significantly, providing higher returns on investments, thus, becoming increasingly attractive to potential investors. Despite having good growth potential, real estate has certain risks attached to it like complex legal considerations, such as property ownership rights, social instability resulting from inequality, and others. However, the growth drivers like sustained high demand driven by urbanisation, improved capital regulation, technological advancements in banking leading to a boost in investment rates, and expected GDP growth supporting the demand for housing easily overshadow the challenges.

Conclusion

For many years, Africa’s growth potential has been understated and misunderstood. It has been treated as a non-friendly investment destination due to the several challenges posed. However, there has been a worldwide lack of understanding of the ease of converting the insurmountable challenges to opportunities. Africa’s growing population and the prevailing problem of excess demand need to be met via increased investment and innovation which will, in turn, lead to increased employment, decreased poverty and increased infrastructural development. Thus, despite Africa’s slowing global growth, if the prevailing challenges are addressed adequately, growth is inevitable.

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Following the PM’s address, our Finance Minister, Dr. Nirmala Sitharaman, through a set of conferences, laid out the specifics of the package divided into 5 tranches. This article seeks to explore the details, benefits and drawbacks of the same. 

The Package in Details

Some of the Key Highlights of the Package for various sectors in several tranches have been provided below:

EARLIER MEASURES 

The “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana” provided the following:  

• Foodgrains and gas cylinders to the needy for three months.
• ₹500 to women Jan Dhan account holders for three months.
• Relief to construction workers via a Welfare Fund.
• Insurance cover to health workers.
• District Mineral Fund to facilitate greater medical testing.
• Increased minimum daily wage rate 
• An increased limit of collateral-free loans for Women Self Help Groups.

Apart from the aforementioned activities, the Indian government has also provided relaxation in Statutory and Compliance matters such as extending the last date for Income Tax Returns and filing GST returns, allowing for 24*7 customs clearance till 30th June 2020, and others. It has also sanctioned Rs. 15,000 crores for Emergency Health Response Package and issued pending income-tax returns up to Rs. 5 lakhs.

RBI’s Monetary Measures:

• Reducing Cash Reserve Ratios.
• Providing Targeted Long Term Repo Operations for fresh deployment in investment-grade bonds, commercial paper, and non-convertible debentures. 
• Increasing banks’ borrowing-limit under the Marginal Standing Facility.
• Special refinance facilities for NABARD, SIDBI and the NHB at policy repo rate.
• 3 months of moratorium on payment of all installments and interest on working capital facilities.

MSMEs AND OTHER BUSINESSES

• Availability of collateral-free, automatic loans with 4-year tenure.
• 25% reduction in the rate of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) and Tax Collection at Source (TCS) 
• Equity infusion and Equity Support for MSMEs.
• Providing a new definition of MSMEs with additional turnover criteria to incentivise them to grow.
• Amendments of General Financial Rules to disallow Global tenders up to Rs.200 crores.
• Extension of the due date of all income-tax return for FY 2019-20.

AGRICULTURE^[3]

• Additional Emergency Working Capital for farmers through NABARD
• Provision of concessional credit to PM-KISAN beneficiaries.
• Promotion of ‘Vocal for Local with Global outreach’ vision via schemes formalising Micro Food Enterprises.
• Facilitating risk mitigation, assured returns and quality standardisation for farmers.
• Implementation of schemes for sustainable development of marine and inland fisheries, development of herbal cultivation, animal husbandry and beekeeping.
• Subsidies on transportation and storage.

MIGRANTS, LABOURERS and OTHERS^[4]

• Setting up shelters providing food and water to migrants by utilising  State Disaster Response Fund.
• Launching schemes to provide free food supply and affordable rental accommodation to migrant workers.
• Providing employment opportunities to the urban-poor by mass production of sanitizers and masks.
• Launching a Special Credit Facility for Street Vendors.
• Universalizing the minimum wage right and implementing the statutory concept of National Floor Wage to reduce regional disparity in minimum wages.
• Boosting the housing sector and the middle-income group through the extension of the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme.

NEW HORIZONS^[5]

• Fast track Investment Clearance through Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS)
• Implementing schemes to upgrade industrial infrastructure and bring about beneficial policy reforms.
• Encouraging private sector participation and boosting investment in several sectors, including space activities.
• Facilitating Efficient Airspace Management for Civil Aviation.
• Improve autonomy, accountability and efficiency in Defence Production.
• Implementing a Tariff Policy Reform pertaining to Consumer Rights, Industry Promotion and Sector-Sustainability.

      GOVERNMENT REFORMS^[6]

• Promoting India as one of the easiest business locations by modifying the Ease of Doing Business Reforms relating to easy registration of property, fast disposal of commercial disputes and simpler tax regime. 
• Facilitating Technology-Driven Education via PM eVIDYA programme
• Increasing investments in the Public Health Sector to not only combat the present pandemic but also prepare for future pandemics.
• Supporting State Governments & promoting state-level reforms.
• Modifying policies to allow for the privatization of various sectors, while upholding the prominence of Public Service Enterprises in defined areas. 

Overall Stimulus Provided by the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package

Problems

The earlier fiscal relief measures along with RBI’s measures constitute ₹9,94,403 crores, which leaves an effective amount of ₹11,02,650 crores. Thus, the immediate fiscal boost announced with such grandeur by the government is quite less than the promised amount because of the inclusion of RBI’s monetary measures, despite both being independent institutions. Direct investment by the government in the form of a boost to the aggregate demand guarantees immediate impetus to the economy, however, that might not be the case with the government’s indirect measures and RBI’s credit easing because the banks, instead of lending, might park the money back with the RBI, thus, rendering its help ineffective. Even if the banks transmit the liquidity measures from RBI to the citizens, the transmission procedure will not be smooth due to the prevailing inefficiency of monetary policy transfers.

The economic package includes a lot of measures spread over 5 tranches. However, there exists the problem of implementing those measures. A classic example is the provision of collateral-free automatic loans to MSMEs. There is a high risk of non-return to banks in such cases unless the businesses end up earning high-profits amidst a global crisis, that is if the MSMEs get the required loans after overcoming the hurdles of meeting the high credit score criteria, bearing high processing costs followed by tedious procedures, and still not receiving the entire amount applied for. 

Conclusion

Both ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan’ and the ‘Make In India Campaign’ attempt to attract Foreign Direct Investment by laying emphasis on the promotion of local products to help with the declining job market. However, this causes a critical problem in a developing country like India which needs to depend on cost-effective imports of several products in which it does not have a comparative advantage and the domestic production of which will lead to increased manufacturing cost, thus, leading to the loss of a competitive edge in the Global Market. Although, Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan does possess an advantage due to the inclusion of agriculture, which had been neglected all this while.

Although the package is very comprehensive and caters to the needs of all people, past history of failures due to the presence of corrupt bureaucracy raises the question of whether the relief package will have its desired effect. However, if the package is properly implemented and people are educated about the schemes through various drives and trained to utilize the benefits available to them, then there exists the possibility of success of the package through economic upliftment of the nation.

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