Nirmala Sitharaman says travel & tourism stakeholders will receive loan of upto Rs 10 lakh

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced new economic relief measures and other items linked to growth, trade, and employment amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

At a press conference today, the finance minister announced the eight economic rules, four of which are new, including one related to health infrastructure.

On the other hand, she also announced other eight items, six of which are new, linked to growth, trade, and employment.

Here are the new relief measures:

A credit guarantee program of Rs 1.1 lakh crore has been announced for COVID-affected sectors and Rs 50,000 crore for the health sector.

A total of 25 lakh people would benefit from the Credit Guarantee Scheme, which is a new scheme.

Microfinance Institutions will provide loans to the smallest borrowers.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) would receive an extra Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

The focus of the Credit Guarantee Scheme will be on new lending and not on the repayment of old loans.

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A total of 5 lakh travelers who come to India will receive a free tourist visa. The scheme will be in effect until March 31, 2022. One tourist can avail of benefits only once.

There will be a new scheme to revive tourism where financial support will be extended to over 11,000 registered tourist guides and travel and tourism stakeholders.

Under this, TTS would receive a loan of up to Rs 10 lakh, while Licensed Tourist Guides will receive a loan of up to Rs 1 lakh.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana has been extended till March 31, 2022, from June 30, 2021.

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKY) will offer free food grains to the underprivileged from May to November 2021 (like it did last year).

The plan has a total financial impact of about Rs 94,000 crore, bringing the entire cost of PMGKY to nearly Rs 2.28 lakh crore.

A total of Rs 23,220 crore has been allotted for public health, with a particular focus on child and pediatric care. The money will be used throughout the current fiscal year.

Reform Based Result Linked Power Distribution Scheme would get a total allocation of Rs. 3.03 lakh crore for the construction and upgrade of power infrastructure.

Production Linked Incentive Scheme to incentivize large-scale electronics manufacturing has been extended for another year, till 2025-26.

An extra investment of about Rs 19,000 crore for the Bharat Net Project would allow for the expansion of Bharat Net broadband access to all remaining villages. Out of the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, more about 1.56 lakh are already connected or service-ready.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research will issue 21 climate-resilient and bio-fortified special crop types.

The North-Eastern Agricultural Marketing Corporation would receive a Rs 77.45 crore revival package.

This is intended to aid planning and provide greater prices to farmers by avoiding the need for middlemen for financial restructuring and cash injection.

Over the next five years, the National Export Insurance Account will get significant financial support.

This will allow the NEIA to underwrite an extra Rs 33,000 crore in project exports, immediately increasing India's capacity to cover project exports.

In place of the long and multi-level approval procedure, the new PPP project process will consist of ‘Appraisal, Approval, Monetization' for quick approvals, bringing in private sector efficiency and streamlining the process.

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