PIB 30th June

Contents

1. Loans over Rs. 1 lakh crore sanctioned under ECLGS
2. Amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899
3. Clean Energy Can Support India’s Economic Recovery

LOANS OVER RS. 1 LAKH CRORE SANCTIONED UNDER ECLGS

Focus: GS-III Indian Economy

Why in news?

Under the 100 % Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) backed by a Government guarantee, Banks from Public & Private Sectors have sanctioned loans worth over Rs. 1 lakh crore.

Benefits

• As part of the Aatmanirbhar package Government had announced its plans for Rs. 3 lakh Crore as additional credit to MSMEs and small businesses.
• Such enterprises were to be eligible to receive upto 20% of their existing borrowing as additional loans at interest rates which were capped.
• This would help more than 30 lakh units of MSMEs & other businesses restart their businesses post the lockdown.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)

• Under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 100% guarantee coverage to be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs. 3 lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA borrowers.
• The credit will be provided in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility.
• Tenor of the loan under Scheme shall be four years with a moratorium period of one year on the principal amount.
• No Guarantee Fee shall be charged by NCGTC from the Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) under the Scheme.
• Interest rates under the Scheme shall be capped at 9.25% for banks and FIs, and at 14% for NBFCs.

Aims and objectives of ECLGS

• The Scheme aims at mitigating the economic distress faced by MSMEs by providing them additional funding in the form of a fully guaranteed emergency credit line.
• The main objective is to provide an incentive to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), i.e., Banks, Financial Institutions (FIs) and NBFCs to increase access to, and enable the availability of additional funding facility to MSME borrowers.
• It aims to provide a 100 per cent guarantee for any losses suffered by them due to non-repayment of the GECL funding by borrowers.

Benefits of the ECLGS

• The scheme aims to mitigate the distress caused by COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown, which has severely impacted manufacturing and other activities in the MSME sector.
• The scheme is expected to provide credit to the sector at a low cost, thereby enabling MSMEs to meet their operational liabilities and restart their businesses.
• By supporting MSMEs to continue functioning during the current unprecedented situation, the Scheme is also expected to have a positive impact on the economy and support its revival.

AMENDMENTS IN THE INDIAN STAMP ACT, 1899

Focus: GS-III Indian Economy

Why in news?

The Amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 brought through Finance Act 2019 and Rules made thereunder will come into effect from July 2020.

Indian Stamp Act

• Indian Stamp Act, 1899 is an in-force Act of the Government of India for the charging of stamp duty on instruments recording transactions.
• The Regulators are: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and they have been have been authorized by the Government to issue clarificatory circulars/ operational guidelines on the Amendments made to the Indian Stamp Act.

Need for Amendments to the Indian Stamp Act

• The present system of collection of stamp duty on securities market transactions led to multiple rates for the same instrument.
• This had resulted in jurisdictional disputes and multiple incidences of duty, thereby raising the transaction costs in the securities market and hurting capital formation.

Purpose of amendments:

• The legal and institutional mechanism is in place to enable states to collect stamp duty on securities market instruments at one place by one agency (through Stock Exchange or Clearing Corporation authorized by it or by the Depository) on one Instrument.
• It places a mechanism to facilitate ease of doing business and to bring in uniformity of the stamp duty on securities across States and thereby build a pan-India securities market.
• It also includes a mechanism for appropriately sharing the stamp duty with relevant State Governments has also been developed which is based on the state of domicile of the buyer.

Benefits of the Amendment

• This rationalized and harmonized system through centralized collection mechanism is expected to ensure minimize cost of collection and enhance revenue productivity.
• Further, this system will help develop equity markets and equity culture across the length and breadth of the country, ushering in balanced regional development.

CLEAN ENERGY CAN SUPPORT INDIA’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY

Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Industry and Infrastructure

Why in news?

NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) released Towards a Clean Energy Economy: Post-Covid-19 Opportunities for India’s Energy and Mobility Sectors report.

Highlights of the Report

The NITI Aayog and RMI report advocates for stimulus and recovery efforts that work towards building a clean, resilient, and least-cost energy future for India.

These efforts include electric vehicle, energy storage, and renewable energy programs.

The report identifies how Covid-19 is beginning to influence the clean energy transition in India, specifically for the transport and power sectors, and recommends principles and strategic opportunities for the country’s leaders to drive economic recovery and maintain momentum towards a clean energy economy.

Way Forward for India’s Clean Energy?

Clean energy will be a major driver of India’s economic recovery and international competitiveness, and working to leverage India’s domestic innovation ecosystem will bring value to the country and industry.

The report lays out four principles as a framework for policymakers and other key decision-makers considering programmes to support India’s clean energy future:

1. Invest in least-cost-energy solutions,
2. Support resilient and secure energy systems,
3. Prioritize efficiency and competitiveness, and
4. Promote social and environmental equity.

India needs to identify strategic opportunities for economic recovery in the short, medium, and long terms that can translate challenges posed by the pandemic into clean energy transition opportunities.

Opportunities in Transport and Power Sector

• Opportunities in the transport sector include making public transport safe, enhancing and expanding non-motorized transport infrastructure, reducing vehicle kilometres travelled through work-from-home where possible, supporting national strategies to adopt electric vehicles in the freight and passenger segments, and making India an automotive export hub.
• The report states that India’s transport sector can save 1.7 gigatonnes of cumulative carbon dioxide emissions and avoid about 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent in fuel demand by 2030 through shared, electric, and connected passenger mobility and cost-effective, clean, and optimized freight transport.
• In the power sector, opportunities include improving the electricity distribution business and its operations, enabling renewables and distributed energy resources, and promoting energy resilience and local manufacturing of renewable energy and energy storage technologies.