Chennai, May 13 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package on Tuesday and the focus on self-reliance and creating local demand would provide impetus to kick-start the economy, said a top official of Ashok Leyland Ltd.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday evening, the Prime Minister announced stimulus measures which will take the total amount, including the ones announced by the Ministry of Finance and the RBI, to Rs 20 lakh crore or 10 per cent of the GDP.

Reacting to Modi's address to the nation, Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director and CEO at Ashok Leyland, said: "While we await the details, the announcement of reforms-cum-stimulus to the tune of 10 per cent of GDP, amounting to Rs 20 lakh crore, has the potential to be sustainably beneficial to all sectors of the economy."

"Industry and in particular the CV (commercial vehicle) industry will stand to gain as well as the economy will start to move again," Sondhi said.

According to him, the massive thrust on self-reliance, along with the focus on creating local demand, and resurrecting local supply chains should provide enough impetus to kick-start the economy.

Meanwhile, Ashok Leyland has announced resumption of operations in all its plants.

"We will gradually ramp up production across facilities after taking into consideration the Work in Progress (WIP) that were on hold at the time of announcement of the lockdown, the supply chain readiness after opening and most importantly the preparedness of the ancillary units to supply us critical components for sustained production of vehicles," Sondhi said.