Expands scheme for Covid relief to health and tourism; Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

On Monday finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a fresh set of measures to provide relief to a string of Covid-hit sectors, such as tourism and small businesses, apart from steps to boost health infrastructure, both in the private and public sector.

Her announcements were a mix of expansion of existing steps, such as increasing the size of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 4.5 lakh crore as the limit was being reached, and fresh measures. So far, over Rs 2.7 lakh crore loans have been sanctioned to 1.1 crore borrowers, based on the government guarantee, with Rs 2.1 lakh crore disbursed, financial services secretary Debasish Panda told reporters.

Another Rs 1.1 lakh crore of loans, based on a similar mechanism, has been lined up and Rs 50,000 crore will be provided to the healthcare sector.

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