The government on Tuesday extended the interest subvention scheme to make banks advance crop loans of up to Rs. 3 lakh at the rate of 7 per cent. “The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the continuation of interest subvention by public sector banks, private sector commercial banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and NABARD to enable them to provide short-term crop loans of up to Rs. 3 lakh to farmers at 7 per cent a year during 2015-16,” an official said.
The Cabinet decided to provide relief to farmers affected by natural calamities, where the interest subvention of 2 per cent will continue to be available to banks for the first year on the restructured amount, officials said.
The Cabinet extended the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme by five years and expanded the scope of the programme to cover 15 new product categories.
The move will tie in with the government’s “Make in India” and “Digital India” initiatives.
The demand for electronics in India is expected to reach $400 billion by 2020. The electronics sector has the potential to attract $100 billion in investment and provide jobs to 28 million people.
The new product categories in the package scheme include smart cards, consumer appliances (such as washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners), electronic product design, optical fibres and Internet of Things products.
“The scheme has been extended for a period of five years beyond July 26, 2015. The extension of the scheme is a big boost towards making India a global destination for electronics manufacturing,” an official said.
In another decision, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved a proposal for restructuring the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project, which is aimed at protecting and conserving the coastal environment. Proposed by the Environment Ministry, the committee gave its approval to the restructuring the project, which includes revising the cost estimate from Rs. 1,155.6 crore to Rs. 1580.1 crore.
The Cabinet gave the go-ahead for a creation of a Central agriculture university in Samastipur in Bihar with an outlay of Rs. 295 crore.
