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Centre announces Rs 1.1L cr loan guarantee scheme for Covid-hit sectors

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced a Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for Covid-hit sectors. Out of the Rs 1.1 lakh crore, the healthcare sector will get Rs 50,000 crore, while the others will get Rs 60,000 crore. “Total of Rs 1.1 lakh crore guarantees is being given for particularly Covid-affected […]

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced a Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for Covid-hit sectors. Out of the Rs 1.1 lakh crore, the healthcare sector will get Rs 50,000 crore, while the others will get Rs 60,000 crore.

“Total of Rs 1.1 lakh crore guarantees is being given for particularly Covid-affected sectors and in that health sector with a Rs 50,000 crore cover receives attention for scaling up medical infrastructure,” Sitharaman announced while addressing a press conference in New Delhi. The guarantee coverage for the projects, which are totally new will get up to 75 per cent coverage and projects which are on expansion will get 50 per cent coverage.

“This guarantee will last for 3 years and the interest rate is capped at 7.95 per cent,” the Finance Ministry added. Additionally, with an aim to provide further economic relief to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre on Monday expanded the financial support being provided under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

ECLGS will now have a total outlay of Rs 4.5 lakh crore, up from the earlier Rs 3 lakh crore. “The overall cap of admissible guarantee has been raised from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 4.5 lakh crore,” Sitharaman said.

“Out of Rs 3 lakh crore announced earlier, Rs 2.69 lakh crore have already been disbursed through the ECLGS 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0,” she said.

Sitharaman also announced some measures including free tourist visas to the first five lakh tourists. She said financial support will be provided to more than 11,000 registered tourist guides and travel and tourism stakeholders

She said that under the new Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid-affected sectors, working capital or personal loans will be provided to people in the tourism sector to discharge liabilities and restart businesses impacted due to the pandemic.

The scheme will cover 10,700 regional-level tourist guides recognised by Tourism Ministry and tourist guides recognised by the state governments and travel and tourism stakeholders (TTS) recognised by the ministry.

Loans will be provided with a 100 per cent guarantee up to the following limits—Rs 10,00,000 for TTS (per agency) and Rs 1,00,000 for tourist guides licenced at regional or state level. There will be no processing charges or prepayment charges and no additional collateral requirement. The scheme will be administered by the Tourism Ministry through NCGTC.

Sitharaman said the first five lakh tourists who come to India once international travel resumes will not have to pay visa fees. “This will benefit any tourist only once. The scheme is applicable till March 31, 2022, or will be closed after distribution of first 5 lakh visas,” she said. A total of 10.93 million foreign tourists visited India in 2019, spent US $ 30.098 billion on leisure and business.

The average daily stay for a foreign tourist in India is 21 days and average daily spending of a tourist in India is around $34 (Rs 2400).

WITH ANI INPUTS

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