HIGHLIGHTS: FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces reforms for farmers and fishermen

On Thursday, Sitharaman announced the second tranche of measures which focused on migrant workers, street vendors, small traders, small farmers.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is announcing the third tranche of measures related to Prime Minister Modi's Rs 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat package on Friday.

On Thursday, Sitharaman announced the second tranche of measures related to Atmanirbhar Bharat. The 2nd tranche of package laid focus on migrant workers, street vendors, small traders, small farmers.

On Wednesday she announced the first tranche of measures in which she detailed out 15 new and some enhanced measures to revive businesses. She had also announced a host of fiscal and regulatory measures for MSMEs, Real Estate, NBFCs, EPF, and Discoms.

Sitharaman will be holding daily press conferences till Sunday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman concludes the press conference

To provide assurance to farmer on Agriculture Produce Price and Quality, facilitative legal framework will be created to enable farmers for engaging with processors, aggregators, large retailers, exporters etc. in fair and transparent manner#AatmaNirbharDesh #AatmanirbharBharat pic.twitter.com/OiJQelWvMc

— PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) May 15, 2020

Agricultural marketing reforms

A central law will be formulated to provide adequate choices to the farmers to sell produce at an attractive price, barrier-free interstate trade and framework for e-trading of agricultural produce, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Essential Commodities Act to be amended

Government to amend the Essential Commodities Act to enable better price realisation for farmers; agriculture products including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions, and potatoes to be de-regulated: Sitharaman

Cabinet had approved National Animal Disease Control Programme for eliminating foot & mouth disease & brucellosis in May-2019, with an outlay of 13,343 crore for five years (2019-24), & @nsitharaman is announcing this again, to inflate the #AatmaNirbharBharatPackage !

👉Shameful https://t.co/56WqoFZkRi

— Ramandeep Singh Mann (@ramanmann1974) May 15, 2020

From TOP to TOTAL - Operation green

In a major announcement, Government extends Operation Greens from Tomatoes, Onion and Potatoes (TOP) to ALL fruits and vegetables.

For bee-keeping

Government to implement a scheme for infrastructure development related to Beekeeping; aims to increase income for 2 lakh beekeepers with special thrust on capacity building of women#AatmaNirbharDesh #AatmanirbharBharat pic.twitter.com/YifQlh39uy

— PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) May 15, 2020

Operation Green

Operation Greens to be extended from Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes (TOP) to all fruits and vegetables (TOTAL): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Promotion of herbal cultivation

Rs 4,000 crore to be allocated

Up to 10 lakh hectare to be brought under herbal cultivation

To generate Rs 5,000 crore income for farmers

800 hectares along Ganga for growing herbal and medicinal plants

National Animal Disease Control Programme has been launched with total outlay of Rs. 13,343 crores: FM

FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces Rs 15,000 crore for Animal husbandry infrastructure Fund

Aim to vaccinate of all cattles

100 per cent vaccination of all cattle (nearly 53 crore animals) to eradicate foot and mouth disease

For development of marine and inland fisheries

Government to launch the Rs 20,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana for development of marine and inland fisheries. 55 lakh people expected to get employment from this program, says FM Sitharaman

Aiming to implement PM's vision of Vocal for Local with Global outreach: FM

For micro food enterprises

Rs 10,000 crores funds to be made

Cluster-based approach to scheme depending on location

For locally-made products to reach global markets

2 lakh enterprises will benefit

Focus on women, SCs/STs and aspirational areas

Move to strengthen infrastructure in agriculture

In a move to strenghten infrastructure in agriculture, financing facility of Rs. 1 lakh crore will be provided for funding Agriculture Infrastructure Projects at farm-gate & aggregation points#AatmaNirbharDesh #AatmanirbharBharat pic.twitter.com/I6XsQI6EE9

— PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) May 15, 2020

Help for fisheries during lockdown

Validity of Sanitary Import Permits (SIPs) for import of Shrimp Broodstock extended by 3 months Condoned delay up to 1 month in arrival of Brood stock consignments

Allowed rebooking of Quare cubicles for cancelled consignments with no additional charges

Verification of documents and grant of NOC for Quarantine relaxed from 7 days to 3 days Registration of 242 Registered Shrimp hatcheries and Nauplii Rearing Hatcheries expiring on 31.03.2020 extended for 3 months

Operations of Marine Capture Fisheries and Aquaculture relaxed to cover Inland Fisheries

Help provided for animal husbandry during lockdown

1. New scheme for interest subvention of 2per cent per annum for dairy cooperatives

2. Additional 2 per cent interest subvention on prompt payment/ interest servicing

Here's what the government has done during the lockdown: FM

During lockdown period Minimum Support Price (MSP) purchases of amount more than Rs 74,300 crores

PM KISAN fund Transfer of Rs 18,700 crores

PM Fasal Bima Yojana claim payment of Rs 6,400 crores

Third tranche to cover 11 measures for farmers

8 relate to logistics and storage

3 relate to governance

Sensex ended marginally lower ahead of FM's presser

Equity benchmark Sensex ended marginally lower after a choppy session on Friday as investors weighed the fiscal impact of the government's economic stimulus.

According to market experts, participants fear that the Rs 20 lakh crore package may not result in direct and immediate boost to demand, raising doubts over the country's economic revival in the near term.

Today's announcement to focus on supply chain in agriculture and allied economies, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Minister Gadkari says that governments and PSUs owe Rs 5 lakh crore as unpaid dues to MSMEs

Minister Sitharaman says she will offer collateral free loan of Rs 3 lakh crore to MSMEs (numbering 45 lakhs)

So, who is the lender and who is the borrower?!

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 15, 2020

Stimulus packages will have impact of Rs 1.29 lakh crore on fiscal deficit: SBI Report

The stimulus packages announced by the government so far to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 will dent the fiscal deficit by 0.6 per cent of the GDP or Rs 1.29 lakh crore in the ongoing financial year, said a report by SBI. (READ MORE)

Key highlights from Thursday's press conference

Funds sent to states to set up shelter for migrants and provide food and water

Liquidity Support to farmers & rural economy

Free food grains for migrants for next 2 months

Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) for Migrant Workers / Urban Poor

Special credit facility for street vendors

Boost to housing sector and middle income group through extension of CLSS

Additional emergency working capital funding through NABARD for farmers

Concessional credit boost to 2.5 crore farmers through Kisan Credit Cards

Here's a quick recap of first tranche of financial package

1) Rs 3 lakh crore collateral free automatic loan for businesses

Sitharaman announced Rs 3 lakh crore collateral free automatic loan for businesses, including MSMEs. This will benefit 45 lakh small businesses, she said detailing parts of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package. (READ MORE)

2) TDS/TCS rate for non-salary payments cut by 25 per cent

The government on Wednesday slashed TDS/TCS rate for non-salary payments to residents by 25 per cent for the remaining months of the fiscal and extended the due date for filing income tax returns for 2019-20 till November 30, 2020. (READ MORE)

3) Rs 30,000 crore support for NBFCs, HFCs, MFIs

Rs 30,000 crore special liquidity scheme for non-banking financial institutions was announced to provide credit support to the sector amid the coronavirus crisis.

Further, a Rs 45,000 crore partial credit guarantee scheme 2.0 was also unveiled for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), housing finance companies (HFCs), and microfinance institutions (MFIs) with low credit rating to help them extend loans to individuals and MSMEs. (READ MORE)

4) Deadline for realty projects extended by six months

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced up to six months extension for completion of obligations under highways, railways and other contracts. The move will provide relief to contractors impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

"The extension of up to six months without cost to contractor is to be provided by all central agencies like Railways, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Central Public Works Department," Sitharaman said. (READ MORE)

5) Power distribution companies get Rs 90,000 crore aid

The Centre on Wednesday rolled out the much-awaited relief for cash-strapped, debt-ridden power distribution companies (discoms). Part of the Rs 20 lakh crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan relief package, the move will see discoms get a liquidity infusion by way of loans worth Rs 90,000 crore — enough to help them pay off over 95 per cent of their current dues to power generation firms (gencos). (READ MORE)