With a view to enhance the investment climate in the country in the wake of strong recovery and the opportunities accorded by a shift in geo-political realities post the Covid-19 pandemic, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in November interacted virtually with the Chief Ministers and Finance Ministers of all the states along with Lieutenant Governors of the UTs.

The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh, along with the Lt Governors of Jammu and Kashmir, and Deputy Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi. ­­State Finance Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal; and state government officials of Ladakh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep also attended the meeting.

In her opening remarks, Ms Sitharaman emphasised that the economy has been growing significantly post the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and indicators such as imports, exports, PMI manufacturing, digital payments, etc. have already reached pre-pandemic levels.