New stimulus to ease cashflow distress: CII

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) welcomed Union Minister Nirmala Sithraman's announcement on economic relief measures to revive industries marred by the deadly second wave of Covid-19 in the country.

Commenting on the economic relief measures announced on Monday, Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII, said: "Extending liquidity support to the stressed sectors emanating from the pandemic, the announcement of slew of measures such as loan guarantees for healthcare, tourism sectors and small borrowers, in addition to increasing the scope of ECLGS by Rs 1.5 lakh crore are laudable. These measures are expected to address the severe cash flow distress precipitated by the business disruptions caused by the lockdowns in the wake of second wave of the pandemic."

The Union Finance Minister had announced Rs1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for Covid affected sectors along with additional allocation of Rs 23,220 crores for the public healthcare sector. Along with this, the finance minister also said that the limit under the emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS) will be enhanced by 50 percent to upto Rs 4.5 lakh crore for the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector facing liquidity crunch.

"The additional tranche of economic revival measures with Rs 6.29 lakh crores spend announced will impart a significant impetus to growth this year," said Banerjee.

Apart from ECLGS, relief measure including schemes for tourist guides, free tourist visa upto first five lakh applicants, broadband scheme and power distribution scheme were announced with total stimulus package for economy totals Rs 6.29 lakh crore.