NEW DELHI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday said the government was working on an economic package to help the country deal with the COVID-19 lockdown.
"Work is going on and we are very close to coming up with an economic package that will be announced sooner rather than later," Sitharaman said during a news video conference.
Sitharaman announced a slew of measures, reliefs across various sectors keeping COVID-19 pandemic in view.
"The date to file income tax return for financial year 2018-19 has been extended to June 30, 2020. For delayed payment, interest rates reduced to 9 percent from 12 percent," Sitharaman said.
On Tuesday, the number of COVID 19 cases in India increased to 492.
During the evening India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on the COVID-19 outbreak.
This will be Modi's second address to the nation since Thursday when he called for a daylong public curfew to fight the spread of the disease.
