In a short period of about one and a half months, loans sanctioned under the much talked about ₹ 3 lakh crore 100 per cent Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme ( ECLGS) to support MSMEs in these trying COVID-19 times have crossed ₹ 1.20 lakh crore mark.
Banks —both private and public sector banks (PSBs)—have as of July 9 sanctioned loans worth ₹ 1.20 lakh crore, while disbursements stood at ₹ 61,988 crore.
This is reflected in the latest review undertaken by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the implementation of
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on May 12 announced a special economic and comprehensive package of ₹ 20 lakh crore —equivalent to 10 per cent of GDP—to fight COVID-19 pandemic in India. He had then given a clarion call for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat as a Self-Reliant India movement.
Progress so far
Giving a major relief to the local MSMEs, the Department of Expenditure has already ruled that no Global Tender Enquiry shall be invited for tenders upto ₹ 200 crore , unless prior approval is obtained from Cabinet Secretariat.
On the relief to contractors, the Department of Expenditure has issued instructions that (due to Covid-19 pandemic) on the invocation of Force Majeure Clause, the contract period may be extended for a period not less than three months and not more than six months without imposition of any cost or penalty on the contractor/concessionaire.
To support the financial position of the State Governments presently suffering from stress on account of revenue losses due to lock down, Department of Expenditure has allowed all State Governments for additional borrowing of 2 per cent of projected GSDP to the States in 2020-21 subject to implementation of specific State level reforms.
On the issue of the ₹ 45,000 crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme 2.0 for NBFCs, the latest review showed that banks have approved purchase of portfolio of ₹14,000 crore and are currently in process of approvals/negotiations for ₹ 6,000 crore as of July 3.
As for the Rs 30,000 crore additional emergency working capital funding for farmers through NABARD, as much as ₹ 24,876.87 crore has been disbursed as on July 6, out of this special facility, an official release said.
Direct taxes
The Revenue Department had on May 13 announced the reduction in TDS rates for specified payments to residents and specified TCS rates by 25 per cent for transactions made from May 14, 2020 to March 31,2021.
Between April 8 and June 30, the CBDT has issued refunds in more than 20.44 lakh cases amounting to more than ₹62,361 crore. Remaining refunds are under process, the release added.
On insolvency, the Corporate Affairs Ministry ( MCA) is finalising a special insolvency resolution under Section 240 A of the IBC to provide relief to the MSMEs and the same would be notified soon, the release added.
Besides raising the minimum threshold for IBC trigger to ₹ 1 crore, the Government had already suspended the initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) for a period of 6 months or such other period, not exceeding one year from such date (June 5).
Meanwhile, on the Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs/ HFCs, SBICAP has received 24 applications requesting financing of ₹ 9,875 crore as on July 7. The first application in this regard has received its approval and the remaining also are being considered, the release added.