New Delhi: The central government has also announced a third relief package to boost the economy two days before Diwali. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made 12 big announcements for various sectors on Thursday. The Finance Minister said that the economy is improving. Moody’s has also raised India’s GDP growth estimates for calendar years 2020 and 2021. The announcement by the government comes at a time when the Production-Linked Incentives scheme has been approved by the Cabinet a day earlier.
The Finance Minister first informed about the progress of the announcement made under the Atmnirbhar Bharat scheme. He pointed out that the stock market is witnessing a steady rise. Banks’ credit growth has picked up by 5.1 percent. The RBI’s forecast for the economy is also positive for the third quarter. Explaining about Atmarnibhar Bharat 1.0, he said that 28 states and Union Territories have come up with the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ scheme. 26.2 lakh loan applications have been made under PM Swanidhi Yojana.
To encourage the industry, an allocation of Rs. 10200 crore has been announced for capital expenditure on green energy or domestic defense companies to boost domestic production.
Rs 900 crore for research in the coronavirus sector: Rs 900 crore has been announced to encourage companies doing research in the corona virus sector. This amount will be given not to the vaccine makers but to the companies doing the research. This will benefit biotechnology companies.
Announcement of Fertilizer Subsidy: Giving relief to the agricultural sector, the Finance Minister today announced the Fertilizer Subsidy. The government said it would pay Rs 65,000 crore as a fertilizer subsidy. This will make fertilizers available to the farmers at affordable prices.
10 thousand crore for Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana: The government had earlier announced to provide employment to migrant workers of 116 districts in their state under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. The government had spent Rs 37,543 crore for this. This scheme was till 31st October 2020. Now the government has announced to give Rs 10,000 crore in it.
The government has announced this as an income tax relief. In the field of housing, this benefit will be available to both home builders and buyers. Earlier in selling the house where the discount in circle rate and value rate has been increased from 10 per cent to 20 per cent now. That is, despite the fall in the value of the property, if a house could not be sold due to the circle rate, now there is a 20 per cent discount, so that the house is sold and people can also get the registry done. This scheme will be implemented till June 30, 2021.
Provision of debt financing for infrastructure: As a provision of debt financing for infrastructure, the government will help Rs. 6,000 crore. NIIF will provide loans of Rs 1.10 lakh crore, including Rs 6,000 crore to the government. The total loan book is Rs 8000 crore. The deal pipeline is worth Rs 10,000 crore.
Relief to Construction and Infra Companies: Companies in the construction and infrastructure sector had difficulty in securing capital and bank guarantees. They had to pay 10 per cent performance security for the bank guarantee, but now they have to pay less. The government has reduced it to 3 per cent so that they have money to work. This will benefit companies whose projects have no case. This scheme will be in force till December 31, 2021.
Announcement of Rs. 18,000 crore for PM Awas Yojana (Urban): In the last few months, several steps have been taken for the real estate sector. Now the government has announced to provide Rs. 18,000 crore in addition to the budget estimate for 2020-21 under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). This amount will be provided from additional fund allocation and additional budget resources. Even earlier this year, Rs 8,000 crore has been released under this scheme. With this announcement of the government, the construction of 12 lakh new houses will start and 18 lakh houses will be completed. Besides, the government expects that 78 lakh new jobs will be created, 25 lakh metric tonnes of steel, and 131 lakh metric tonnes of cement will be consumed.
Credit Guarantee Support for 26 Stressed Sectors: In today’s relief package, the government has announced a Credit Guarantee Support Scheme for the 26 most affected sectors amid the Kovid-19 epidemic.
ECLGS 2.0 increased till March 2021: The government has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) of Rs 3 lakh crore till March 31, 2021. This is a fully guaranteed loan scheme from the Central Government. By February 29, 2020, 20 per cent additional credit will be given for the Outstanding Loan of Rs. 50 crore. MSME unit, business enterprise, personal loan and currency loan are covered under this scheme. Under this scheme, loans of Rs 2.05 lakh crore have been sanctioned to 61 lakh borrowers. So far, loans worth Rs 1.52 lakh crore have been issued
The government first announced the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana’. Under this scheme, the government is launching so that new employment opportunities can be created in the country. This scheme will be deemed to be implemented on October 1, 2020 and will be for the next two years. If a new employee starts working in an EPFO registered institution, he gets a salary of less than Rs. 15,000, then he will get the benefit of this scheme. Also, those who lost their jobs between March 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 and got employment again after October 1, will still get the benefit of this scheme of the government. Salary of such employees should be less than Rs. 15,000 per month.
