Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday sought to clear the air around Prime Minister's self-reliance call, saying it does not mean that India will look only inwards and become an "isolationist" country.
She said that the call talks about a confident India which can rest on its strengths and also contribute to the globe.
India has the capability and entrepreneurship to built capabilities and help the world, the minister added.
"Certainly when he (Prime Minister) says 'aatmanirbhar' Bharat, it is not to look inwards and cut India to become an isolationist country.
Here are the key takeaways:
₹20 Lakh Crore Economic Package Tranche 1: ~ ₹5.9 Lakh Crores
§ MSME: ₹3.7 Lakh Crore
o ₹3 lakh Crore collateral-free automatic loans with 4-year tenure and are 100% guaranteed – Aim is to benefit 45 lakh units to help resume activity and safeguard jobs
o ₹20,000 Crore loans for stressed MSMEs as subordinate debt facilities – Aim is to benefit the 2 lakh stressed or NPA MSMEs
o ₹50,000 Crore Fund of Funds framework for MSMEs that need handholding
o Disallowed Global tenders in Government procurement up to ₹200 Crores. – Aim is to empower Indian MSMEs and other companies to increase their business
o E-market facilities for MSMEs in the absence of trade fairs and expos
§ The investment limits which defined MSMEs have been revised and turnover has been added as one of the criteria.
§ EPF – ₹2,500 Crore Support for 3 more months till August 2020 to provide liquidity relief to 3.67 lakh establishments and for 7.22 lakh employees FM clarified that the employee and employer contribution to EPF was reduced to 10%. It would increase the take home for employees and give relief to employers.
§ NBFCs + HFCs + MFIs - ₹75,000 Crore
o ₹30,000 Crore Special Liquidity Scheme investment in both primary and secondary market transactions in investment grade debt and security will be guaranteed by Government of India
o ₹45,000 Crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme 2.0 for NBFCs which is an extension of existing PCGs scheme to cover borrowings such as primary issuance of bonds/CPs, where Government will act as guarantor and will bear the first 20% loss
§ DISCOMs - ₹90,000 Crore
o ₹90,000 Crore liquidity injection against receivables by PFS/REC
o Loans to be given against state guarantees exclusively to discharge liabilities of DISCOMs to Gencos
§ Contractors: Up to 6 months extension of contracts by all central agencies like Railways, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Central Public Works Dept. All govt. agencies will release the partial bank guarantees to the extent of completed contract works to improve cash flow
§ Real Estate:
o Covid-19 can be treated as an Act of God
o 6 months Extension of registration and completion for all registered projects expiring on or after March 25, 2020 and fresh project registration certificates with revised timelines to be issued. Aim is to de-stress the developers and ensure completion of the projects
§ TDS rates reduced by 25% applicable on all payments including interest, rent, brokerage etc. and will be enforced till March 31, 2021. It will however only apply to non-salaried people.
o Assumed to release about ₹50,000 Crores in hands of the people
§ All pending refunds of charitable trust, non-profit business, cooperatives and small partnerships, shall be immediately issued
§ Due date of all I-T returns for FY19-20 extended till October 31, 2020
§ Tax audits extended till October 31, 2020
§ Date of assessments getting barred as of September 2020 is extended till December 2020. Those getting barred on March 31, 2021 are being extended till September 31, 2021
§ Vivad se Vishwas scheme is being extended till December 31, 2020 without any additional amount
The scheme is the government's initiative to reduce income tax disputes and also collect the revenues clogged in long pending litigations
