New Delhi: Anurag Thakur, the minister of information and broadcasting, announced on August 17 that the expansion of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 5 lakh crore had received approval from the Union Cabinet.
The minister announced that the increased money will only be available for the travel, tourist, and hospitality industries.
After the epidemic, the ECLGS programme was established to aid small businesses suffering from the unprecedented decline in economic activity. Since then, more sectors have been added to the programme.
In order to maintain enough credit flow in the agriculture sector, the Cabinet has also approved a 1.5 percent annual interest subsidy on short-term agriculture loans up to Rs 3 lakhs.
According to the government, this interest subvention will be given to lending institutions and will require an additional budgetary provision of Rs 34,846 crore.
Farmers will continue to receive the customary 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.
The government claimed that the choice would encourage innovation based on India’s highly regarded scientific legacy in a variety of sectors and would result in a wider use of Indian traditional medicines.
