Kerala govt announces additional Covid relief measures worth Rs 5,650 crore

Penal interest on loans which are default since January 20, 2021 will be avoided until September 30.

A healthcare worker conducts COVID test at Tagore Hall in Kozhikode. (File photo| EPS)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has expanded Covid-19 relief package by adding measures to benefit small-scale traders, industrialists and farmers, Finance Minister KN Balagopal told the Assembly on Friday. The supplementary package is worth Rs 5,650 crore. 

• Govt to bear 4 pc interest of loans up to Rs 2 lakh for six months, availed from financial institutions under the state and central governments, cooperatives and commercial banks. An amount of Rs 2,000 crore has been earmarked for this and about one lakh persons will benefit from it. It will be applicable for loans sanctioned from August 1. 
• The government will waive off rent from traders in government buildings between July and December 31. 
• MSMEs exempted from paying building tax and electricity fixed charge between July and December.

KSFE relief measures  
Penal interest on loans which are default since January 20, 2021 will be avoided until September 30. Interest and penal interest, from 50 pc to 100 pc depending on the tenure, will be avoided for chitty defaulters. Interest and penal interest will be waived for chitty subscribers whose accounts are default since January 20. This will be applicable only for subscribers who have not claimed the prize money. The Rs 1 lakh loan for families which had Covid-19 infection will be extended up to September 30. The interest rate is 5pc.

Kerala Financial Corp relief projects 
Start-Up Kerala loans will be sanctioned up to a maximum of Rs 1 crore without collateral security. Rs 50 crore will be allocated for this. Loans up to a maximum of Rs 20 crore will be sanctioned to enterprises in governments industrial estates. Rs 500 crore will be sanctioned.The Chief Minister’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme will be revamped. Loans up to a maximum  of Rs 1 crore will be sanctioned to new units at five percent interest rate. 500 units will be selected annually for the next five years. The beneficiaries should be below the age of 50. 

The Kerala Financial Corporation will give one-year moratorium for loans sanctioned to small-scale entrepreneurs who were prompt in repayment until March 31. It will cover 820 loan accounts. Loan accounts will be restructured as per the RBI guidelines to avoid categorisation as NPA. 

Additional loans to the tune of 20 pc of the original capital will be sanctioned to customers in the small-scale and tourism sectors. Special loans will be sanctioned to enterprises engaged in Covid prevention. Up to 90 pc of the project cost will be sanctioned. The interest range for small-scale industries and enterprises in tourism and healthcare  was slashed from 9.5 pc-12 pc to 8 pc-10.5 pc The government will spend Rs 526 crore for the Onam special kit distribution. Welfare pension for July and August will be distributed early next month.

RENT WAIVER
The government will waive off rent from traders in government buildings between July and December 31