Hummingbird News Desk
NEW DELHI, 28 JUNE: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a slew of measures to provide relief to diverse sectors affected by the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The measures announced also aim to prepare the health systems for emergency response and provide impetus for growth and employment.
Union Finance Minister unvealed relief measures worth Rs 6,28,993 crore. As many as eight new schemes were announced with focus on health, tourism and other sectors hit hard by the pandemic.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Sitharaman said that the government has approved a Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for COVID-19 affected sectors. This includes Rs 50,000 crore for health sector and Rs 60,000 crore for other sectors, including tourism.
Apart from these, Rs 23,220 crore more has been allotted for public health sector. This will focus on short term emergency preparedness with special emphasis on children and paediatric care/paediatric beds.
The health sector component is aimed at up scaling medical infrastructure targeting underserved areas. Guarantee cover will be available both for expansion and new projects related to health/medical infrastructure in cities other than 8 metropolitan cities.
While the guarantee cover will be 50% for expansion and 75% for new projects. In case of aspirational districts, the guarantee cover of 75% will be available for both new projects and expansion.
Maximum loan admissible under the scheme is Rs. 100 crore and guarantee duration is up to 3 years. Banks can charge a maximum interest of 7.95% on these loans. Loans for other sectors will be available with an interest cap of 8.25% p.a. Thus the loans available under the scheme will be much cheaper compared to the normal interest rates without guarantee of 10-11%.
Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana has now been extended from June 30, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Over 21.4 lakh people of nearly 80,000 establishments have already benefited from the scheme, the finance minister said. With an approved outlay of Rs 22,810 crore, the scheme entails subsidy for two years to new employees drawing monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000.
The government would subsidise both employers’ and employees’ share of provident fund (PF) contribution, amounting to 24 per cent of wages for establishment having strength of up to 1,000 employees.
Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro Finance Institutions
This is a completely new scheme announced today which aims to benefit the smallest of the borrowers who are served by the network of Micro Finance Institutions. Guarantee will be provided to Scheduled Commercial Banks for loans to new or existing NBFC-MFIs or MFIs for on lending upto Rs 1.25 lakh to approximately 25 lakh small borrowers.
Loans from banks to be capped at MCLR plus 2%. Maximum loan tenure will be 3 years, and 80% of assistance to be used by MFI for incremental lending. Interest rates will be at least 2% below maximum rate prescribed by RBI. The scheme focuses on new lending, and not on repayment of old loans. MFIs will lend to the borrowers in line with extant RBI guidelines such as number of lenders, borrower to be member of JLG, ceiling on household income & debt. Another feature of the scheme is that all borrowers (including defaulters upto 89 days) will be eligible. Guarantee cover will be available for funding provided by MLIs to MFIs/NBFC-MFIs till March 31, 2022 or till guarantees for an amount of Rs. 7,500 crore are issued, whichever is earlier. Guarantee will be provided upto 75% of default amount for upto 3 years through National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC)
No guarantee fee to be charged by NCGTC under the scheme.
Scheme for Tourists guides/ stakeholders
Another new scheme announced today aims at providing relief to people working in tourism sector. Under new Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID-affected sectors, working capital/personal loans will be provided to people in tourism sector to discharge liabilities and restart businesses impacted due to COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme will cover 10,700 Regional Level Tourist Guides recognised by Ministry of Tourism and Tourist Guides recognised by the State Governments; and about 1,000 Travel and Tourism Stakeholders (TTS) recognized by Ministry of Tourism. TTS’s will be eligible to get a loan upto Rs. 10 lakh each while tourist guides can avail loan upto Rs 1 lakh each. There will be no processing charges, waiver of foreclosure/prepayment charges and no requirement of additional collateral. Scheme is to be administered by the Ministry of Tourism through NCGTC.
Free one month tourist visa to 5 lakh tourists
This is another scheme aimed at boosting the tourism sector. It envisages that once Visa issuance is restarted, the first 5 lakh Tourists Visas will be issued visa free of charge to visit India. However, the benefit will be available only once per tourist. The facility will be applicable till 31st March, 2022 or till 5 lakh visas are issued, whichever is earlier. Total financial implications of the scheme to the government will be Rs 100 crore.
Highlights:—-
- Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for COVID affected sectors
• Additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme
• Credit Guarantee Scheme to facilitate loans to 25 lakh persons through Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs)
• Financial support to more than 11,000 Registered Tourists/ Guides/ Travel and Tourism Stakeholders
• Free one month Tourist Visa to first 5 lakh tourists
• Extension of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana till 31st March 2022
• Additional subsidy of Rs. 14,775 crore for DAP & P&K fertilizers
• Extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) – Free food grains from May to November, 2021
• Rs. 23,220 crore more for public health with emphasis on children and paediatric care/paediatric beds
• 21 varieties of bio-fortified crop for nutrition, climate resilience and other traits to be dedicated to the nation
• Revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) with package of Rs 77.45 crore
• Rs. 33,000 crore boost for project exports through National Export Insurance Account (NETA)
• Rs. 88,000 crore boost to Export Insurance Cover
• Rs. 19,041 crore For Broadband to each Village through BharatNet PPP Model
• Extension of Tenure of PLI Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing till 2025-26
• Rs 3.03 lakh crore for Reform-Based Result-Linked Power Distribution Scheme
• New Streamlined Process for PPP Projects and Asset Monetization
Image Courtesy:@Internet
