AATMNIRBHAR BHARAT SRESTHA BHARAT

FM announcement highlights: First part of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package unveiled

20 Lakh Economic Package: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday shared the first installment of the mega Rs 20 lakh crore economic package with the focus being on the relief to the MSME sector.

The Prime Minister had announced the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package that will focus on making India self-reliant during his national address on Tuesday.

The finance minister, who was flanked by the MoS Anurag Thakur and the finance ministry officials, said that the Aatmanirbhar Bharat rests on five pillars: Economy, Infrastructure, Technology-driven systems, Demography, and Demand. The focus will be on factors of production: Land, Labour, liquidity, and Laws. The intention is to make local brands global.

Key Highlights of the economic package:

Six major steps for the revival of the MSME sector

1. Collateral free loan of Rs 3 lakh crores for MSMEs. This will benefit 45 lakh units so that they can resume work and save jobs.

2. For stressed MSMEs, the Subordinate debt provision of Rs 20,000 cr has been announced for 2 lakh MSMEs. It will benefit those which are NPAs or stressed MSMEs

3. Rs 50,000 crore equity infusion through Mother fund-Daughter fund for MSMEs that are viable but need handholding. A fund of funds with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore will be set up to help these units expand capacity and help them list on Markets if they choose.

4. The definition of MSMEs has been revised to allow MSMEs to aim for expansion and not lose benefits. Also, there’ll be no distinction between the manufacturing & services sector MSMEs.

New definition: Micro units with investment till Rs 1 cr, turnover up to Rs 5 crore. Small units with investment till Rs 10 cr, turnover up to Rs 50 cr. Medium units with investment till Rs 20 cr, turnover up to Rs 100 crore.

5. Global tenders will be disallowed up to Rs 200 crore for government contracts.

6. Will ensure e-market linkages are provided across the board in the absence of non-participation in trade fairs due to COVID. Govt of India and PSUs will clear all the receivables in the next 45 days.

For Employees

7. A liquidity relief of ?2,500 crores EPF support is being given to all EPF establishments, EPF contribution will be paid by Govt. of India for another 3 months till August and will benefit more than 72 lakh employees.

8. Statutory EPF contribution for all organizations and their employees covered by EPFO has been reduced to 10% from 12% earlier. This doesn’t apply to govt organizations. This will infuse Rs 6,750 cr liquidity into these organizations.

For NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs

9. Rs 30,000 crore special liquidity scheme for investing in investment-grade debt paper of NBFCs, HFCs, and MFIs. These NBFCs are those that are also funding MSMEs. These will be fully guaranteed by the government of India.

10. Rs 45,000 crore partial credit guarantee scheme 2.0 for NBFCs. The first 20% loss will be borne by the guarantor that is the government of India.

11. For Discoms, a one-time emergency liquidity injection of Rs 90,000 crore against all their receivables. The states will guarantee it.

Other Details

12. An extension of up to 6 months (without costs to the contractor) to be provided by all Central Government Agencies like Railways, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Central Public Works Dept.

13. On real estate, urban development ministry will issue advisory to states/UTs so that the regulators can invoke force majeure. The regulators can suo moto extend completion/registration dates for six months for projects expiring on or after March 25, 2020.

14. A reduction of 25% of existing rates of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) & Tax Collection at Sources (TCS) from tomorrow till March 31, 2021. This will release Rs 50,000 crores.

15. Due date of all IT Return filings extended from July 31 to November 30. Vivaad se Vishwas scheme extended till December 31, 2020. Date of assessments getting barred as on Sep 30, 2020, extended to December 31, 2020. Date of assessments getting barred as on March 31, 2021, extended to September 30, 2021.

Finance Minister Conference LIVE Updates: Second tranche of economic package announced

Just a day after announcing some key developments related to government’s ?20 lakh crore economic package, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressing the media again on Thursday.

“Today’s initiatives focus on migrant workers, street vendors, small traders, the self-employed and small farmers,” the finance minister said as she began her address to the media.

Here are live updates and Key points Second Tranche of economic package

·        Repayment incentive on crop loans due from March 1 extended to May 31: FM “Interest subvention and prompt repayment incentive on crop loans due from 1st March have been extended to 31st May. “Interest subvention for loans to farmers, normally given for prompt repayment, close to 3 crore marginal farmers had received loans worth Rs 4 lakh crore at low rates. They were also given a moratorium by the RBI,” says Sitharaman.

·        The government has allowed the states to utilize state disaster response funds for setting up shelters for migrants and to provide food and water. Roughly, Rs 11,002 crore was transferred on April 3, the finance minister says.

·        14.62 crore person-days of work till May 13, which is 40-50% more persons enrolled as compared to last May. Migrant workers going back to their states are being actively enrolled in MGNREGA.

·         The government has permitted state governments to utilize SDRF for setting up a shelter for migrants and providing them food, water. We are conscious, we are attending to the migrants and giving them in various different ways. 

·         12,000 self-help groups have produced 3 crore masks and 1.2 lakh liter of sanitizers, thereby providing additional employment opportunities to the urban poor.

·         25 lakh new Kisan Credit Cards have been sanctioned with a loan limit of Rs 25,000 crore.

·        7,200 new SHG groups have been formed for the urban poor. 25 lakh new Kisan Credit Cards have been sanctioned with a loan limit of Rs 25,000 crore.

·        We want to give the right to minimum wage universally to all workers. We are proposing a national floor-wise wage rate so that uniform wage rate prevails across states: FM

·        The minimum wage for workers hiked from Rs 182 to Rs 202 per day. States and UTs have also been told to provide jobs to migrants: FM

·        Govt to launch a scheme for affordable rental housing for migrant workers and urban poor to provide ease of living by converting govt-funded housing in cities into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) under PPP mode through concessionaire: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

·        One nation, one ration card will be implemented. 67 crore beneficiaries in 23 states covering 83% of PDS population will be covered by national portability by August 2020: FM Sitharaman

 “Free foodgrain supply to migrants for 2 months now expanded for those who don’t have NFSA or state cards. 5 kg of wheat or rice or 1 kg of chana to be provided,” FM Sitharaman said.

 FM announced nine steps under the second tranche of Covid-19 package of which “three are related to migrant workers, two related to farmers, one related to street vendors and one related to employment generation in tribal-dominated areas” among others.

Nirmala Sitharaman, on May 14, announced an affordable rental housing scheme. Government-funded housing in cities will be converted into the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The scheme will be launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), FM said.

The move will help migrant workers and urban poor to live in cities by paying reasonable rents at government complexes.

Amid coronavirus outbreak, the migrant laborers and urban poor face challenges to get rental homes at affordable prices. The Central government will soon provide affordable rental houses to migrant workers and the urban poor.

Sitharaman said that the central government will incentivize manufacturing units, industries and institutions to develop affordable housing complexes on their private lands.

The central government agencies and state government organizations will be also be encouraged to develop housing complexes, Sitharaman added. The details of the scheme will be released soon.

Meanwhile, The Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for the middle-income group with the annual income of ?6 lakh to ?18 lakh to buy affordable housing units is extended till March 31, 2021. The scheme was last extended till March 2020. Around 2.5 lakh middle income families will be benefitted in the long run, Sitharaman said. The Finance Minister said that it will lead to an investment of ?70,000 crores in the housing sector and also create jobs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a ?20 lakh-crore stimulus package, aimed at making the country self-reliant and reviving a stalled economy. The package will focus on land, labor, liquidity and laws and will cater to various sectors including cottage industries, micro, small & medium enterprises, the working class, the middle class and others. This included ?1.7 lakh crore package comprising of free food grains and cash to poor for three months announced in March, and ?5.6 lakh crore stimulus provided through various monetary policy measures by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

‘One nation, one ration card’ scheme by March 2021, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

The Central government announced ‘one nation, one ration card’ scheme to allow national portability of ration cards for the people, who can now avail the benefits under the PDS system wherever they are in the country.

While announcing measures for migrant workers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that 100 percent of ration cardholders will be covered in ‘one nation, one ration card’ scheme by March 2021. This was the second day when Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the media on ?20 lakh crore Covid-19 relief package announced by PM Narendra Modi while addressing the nation on 12 May.

“In order to benefit migrants. the govt is coming up with one nation, one ration card scheme, which can be used in a ration shop in any part of the country. This will be implemented by August for 67 crore beneficiaries in 23 states. 67 crore is 83% of the entire PDS system,” Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman further added that the entire nation will be covered under’ one nation one ration scheme’ by March 2021.

This initiative is a technology-driven system. as announced as one of the pillars of Atma-nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan or Self-reliant India Mission by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under the ‘one nation, one ration card’ initiative, eligible beneficiaries would be able to avail their entitled food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from any fair-price shop in the country. The scheme was announced in June last year.

For national portability, the state governments have been asked to issue the ration card in the bi-lingual format, wherein besides the local language, the other language could be Hindi or English. The states have also been told to have a 10-digit standard ration card number, wherein the first two digits will be state code and the next two digits will be running ration card numbers.

Finance Minister Speech live update: 3rd tranche of economic package details.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the 3rd tranche of the economic package will deal with giving relief to agriculture and allied industries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week announced a cumulative package of Rs 20 lakh crore (nearly 10 percent of GDP) to provide relief to various segments of the economy battered by coronavirus lockdown. 

“I will be announcing 11 measures today, of which 8 relates to strengthening capacity and infrastructure. The government will allocate money and we can quickly ramp up on these. The rest 3 will pertain to government and administrative reforms,” says FM. 560 lakh liters of milk were also procured by cooperatives during the lockdown, says FM.

Here are the key details for 3rd tranche of the economic package

1 lakh crore for the argi-infrastructure fund, says FM Sitharaman

 Rs 1 lakh crore announced for the agri-infrastructure fund for farm-gate infrastructure for farmers. Impetus will be placed on the development of farm-gate and aggregation point, affordable and financially viable post-harvest management infrastructure.

Registration of 242 Shrimp hatcheries, Naupali Rearing hatcheries extended

.Registration of 242 Shrimp hatcheries and Naupali Rearing hatcheries, which expired on March 31, 2020, has been extended for 3 months.

Govt brings scheme worth ?10,000 crores for ‘Vocal for Local with global outreach’

The government introduces a ?10,000 crores scheme for the formalization of Micro Food Enterprises (MFE); the scheme promotes PM’s vision of ‘Vocal for Local with global outreach’, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

Measures to aid marine and coastal farmers have been undertaken: FM

All Covid-19 related deadline extensions relating to fisheries activities, many of them involving overseas contracts, have been honored. Many measures which will help marine and coastal farmers have been undertaken as promised, says finance minister.

Govt will put ?5,000 crores in hands of 2 crore farmers

A new scheme was introduced to give lower interest to dairy cooperatives, the interest subvention scheme will continue. The government will put additional ?5,000 crores in hands of 2 crore farmers: Finance minister

Govt scheme worth ?20,000 crores for development of marine, inland fisheries

Govt to launch the ?20,000 crores Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for the development of marine and inland fisheries. The scheme is for integrated, sustainable, inclusive development of marine and inland fisheries to plug critical gaps in the fisheries value chain; move will provide employment to over 55 lakh persons and double exports to ?1 lakh crore: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Govt launches programme for foot and mouth disease, Brucellosis

The Centre has launched the National Animal Disease Control Programme to ensure that Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis is eradicated among live animals. A total of 100 per cent vaccination of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat and pig population will be ensured. As many as 1.5 crore cows and buffaloes have been tagged till date as opposed to 53 crore animals in total.

National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis launched with a total outlay of ?13,343 crores, says finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Govt to set up ?15,000 crore fund for animal husbandry infrastructure development

The government has earmarked Rs 15,000 crore for setting up animal husbandry infrastructure. This will be used to support private investment in Dairy Processing, value addition and cattle feed infrastructure.

?4,000 crores for herbal cultivation, to develop corridor of medicinal plants along banks of Ganga: FM Sitharaman

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Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced that the Centre has allocated ?4000 crores for promotion of herbal cultivation; 10, 00, 000 hectare will be covered in the next 2 years.

.India to witness a corridor of medicinal plants along river Ganga banks: Govt

National Medicinal Plants Board will bring 800-hectare area by developing a corridor of medicinal plants along the banks of river Ganga, says finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

?4,000 crores for herbal cultivation, to develop corridor of medicinal plants along banks of Ganga: FM Sitharaman

.Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced that the Centre has allocated ?4000 crores for promotion of herbal cultivation; 10,00,000 hectare will be covered in the next 2 years.

India to witness a corridor of medicinal plants along river Ganga banks: Govt

National Medicinal Plants Board will bring 800-hectare area by developing a corridor of medicinal plants along the banks of river Ganga, says finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman