NEW DELHI: Keeping in mind the COVID-19 second wave, the Union Ministry of Finance on Friday extended the scope of the emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS) yet again - this time to SMA-1 category borrowers.
"We wish to inform that the ECLGS 2.0 component of ECLGS has been expanded to to SMA-1 borrowers also within its scope, other conditions remaining unchanged," a circular by the Department of Financial Services said. The SMA-1 category covers borrowers whose overdue period is between 31-60 days.
The Rs 3-lakh crore ECLGS had been announced last year as part of the COVID-19 relief package rolled out by the Centre and involved offering COVID-hit businesses higher credit limits.
According to the Finance Ministry, the latest iteration of the scheme involves extending credit of up to 40 per cent of total credit outstanding across all lending institutions as of February, 2020. The government earlier extended ECLG schemes up to June 30, 2021 or till guarantees worth Rs 3 lakh crore were issued.