Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced eight economic relief measures to lift the economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sitharaman announced Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for Covid-hit sectors, including the health sector which will get Rs 50,000 lakh crore.

The Finance Minister also announced an additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore limit enhancement for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) scheme. The existing ceiling of Rs 3 lakh crore thus gets expanded to Rs 4.5 lakh crore, and is set to provide further economic relief to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“We are announcing about eight economic relief measures, of which four are absolutely new and one is specific to health infrastructure,” Sitharaman said on Monday.

Under the new schemes, the government extended a federal guarantee on bank loans to healthcare sector. Visa fees are also waived for 500,000 lakh tourists visiting India to give a boost to tourism. Financial support would be provided to over 11,000 registered tourist guides, travel and tourism stakeholders.

The government will provide a cover of Rs 50,000 crore for beefing up health infrastructure in Tier-2 and 3 cities. An additional Rs 23,220 crore will be allocated with a primary focus on pediatric care.

The loan guarantee scheme would provide 75% coverage for new projects and 50% for expansion of health related projects. Maximum loan of up to Rs 100 crore would be given for up to three years at 7.95% interest rate to the health sector.

Under ECLGS 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, 12 public sector banks, 25 private sector banks and 31 non-banking financial companies have disbursed 2.69 lakh crore to 1.1 crore units, Sitharaman said.

With another Rs 1.5 lakh crore pouring in, as many as 25 lakh people will be benefitted under ECLGS. A maximum Rs 1.25 lakh will be lent to the smallest borrowers by micro-finance institutions. “Focus is on new lending and not on repayment of old loans,” Sitharaman added.

The government will extend Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana to foot employer, employee’s share of post-retiral benefit of new hires by private companies.

Free foodgrain will be provided to the poor till November 2021. This will take total cost of Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana to Rs 2.27 lakh crore.

The other things announced are:

Additional Rs 14,775 crore fertiliser subsidy to be provided over and above Rs 85,413 crore budgeted;

Rs 33,000 crore for National Export Insurance Account and Rs 88,000 crore for Export Insurance Account;

Additional Rs 19,041 crore for broadband to each village through BharatNet PPP Model;

PLI Scheme tenure extended for large scale electronics manufacturing.