Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also mentioned that more than 9 lakh COVID-related claims for Rs 8,642 crore have been settled by insurance companies.
Even before the shock of Covid-19, India’s economy had been losing momentum with growth slowing steadily. Now, after a large GDP contraction due to the pandemic, medium- to long-term prospects remain uncertain amid the second wave of infections.
India (the Centre and states) spend 1.26% of GDP (FY20BE) on health, way behind Brazil at 6.8%, Turkey 10.5% and Mexico 11.6%. States were estimated to spend spend about Rs 1.9 lakh crore in FY20BE while the Centre about Rs 77,000 crore.
