Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made several announcements to boost the economy hit by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are some key points :
*Govt extends Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana from June 30, 2021, to March 31, 2022. Over 21.4 lakh people of nearly 80,000 establishments have already benefited from the scheme, said Sitharaman.
*To further boost tourism, Sitharaman announces ₹10 lakh loan to travel agencies and ₹1 lakh loan to tourist guides.
*Once visa issuance starts again, first 5 lakh tourist visas to be issued free of charges, announces Sitharaman. “Once international travel resumes, first 5 lakh tourists who come to India will not have to pay visa fees. Scheme applicable till March 31, 2022, or will be closed after distribution of first 5 lakh visas. One tourist can avail benefit only once,” she said.
*”We are announcing a totally new scheme,” Sirtharaman said as she announced a “credit guarantee scheme to facilitate loans to 25 lakh persons through micro finance institutions.”
“The focus is on new lending, and not repayment of old loans,” she also said.
All borrowers (including defaulters upto 89 days) are eligible for the scheme. Lending will be upto ₹1.25 lakh.
*The government is expanding the scope of emergency credit line guarantee scheme. We are adding another 1.5 lakh crore to the existing corpus of ₹3 lakh crore, the finance minister announced.
*Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced ₹1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for Covid-affected sectors. The healthcare to get ₹50,000 crore, aimed at upscaling medical infrastructure targeting underserved areas. ₹60,000 crores for other sectors, she announced.
*Eight new set of economic relief measures meant to boost growth, says Sitharaman in the briefing.
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