FM unveils first part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package

Addressing the nation, the Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced the details of the special economic package mentioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on Tuesday. 

She commenced the discussion with revisiting some of the previous schemes brought in by the central government- such as PM Garib Kalyan Scheme, IBC and GST reforms. In her address, she announced 15 different measures. 

MSMEs will get collateral free automatic loans worth Rs 3 lakh crore until October 21, 2020. This is for a 4 year tenure and is 100% guaranteed by the government.”The definition of MSMEs was amended. 

Further, global tenders would be disallowed in government procurement up to Rs 200 crores in a bid to promote Make in India. The statutory EPF contribution has been slashed by 10% to increase take home pay.  The government also rolled out Rs. 2500 crore EPF support for businesses and workers for 3 more months. A special liquidity scheme with a capital of Rs. 30,000 crore was rolled out for the NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs. Rs. 90,000 were injected into the discoms. The contracts for contractors were increased by up to 6 months for central government. Also, the TDS rate was cut by 25% and ITR filing date was extended.