The Union Cabinet has approved a Rs 50,000 crore increase in the limit of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to Rs 5 lakh crores, Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on August 17.
The additional amount is earmarked exclusively for enterprises in the hospitality and related sectors, said the minister.
Cabinet approves an increase in the corpus of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme to increase the limit of admissible guarantees which will benefit agriculture, travel, hospitality, and related industries.
The ECLGS scheme was established in the aftermath of the pandemic to assist small businesses struggling amid the unprecedented economic impact. Since then, the programme has been expanded to include more industries.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur also said that the Cabinet approves interest subvention of 1.5% per annum on short-term agriculture loans up to Rs 3 lakh. The decision has been taken to ensure adequate credit flow in the agriculture sector.
According to the government, this interest subsidy will be provided to lending institutions and will result in an additional budgetary provision of Rs 34,846 crore.
Farmers will continue to receive the regular 3% interest subvention on qualifying loans.
Following the Reserve Bank of India’s most recent hike in the policy interest rate, the interest support provided to lending institutions has been reinstated, according to minister Thakur.
Separately, the cabinet authorised granting users other than patent offices access to the so-called Traditional Knowledge Digital Library database. Researchers and patent applicants can now access the library, simplifying the research and development process.
According to the government, the move will encourage innovation based on India’s highly regarded scientific legacy across a variety of sectors and will result in greater use of Indian traditional remedies.