The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Rs 6.29 lakh crore stimulus for pandemic-hit sectorsTwo days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Rs 6.29 lakh crore relief package for Coronavirus pandemic affected sectors, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for it.Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar informed media persons after the cabinet meeting that the Government has approved the entire package which consists of free food grains supply to the poor which has been extended till November 2021. This alone entails an expenditure of Rs 93,869 crore.Apart from this, the package also covers Rs 14,775 crore fertiliser subsidy and Rs 23,220 crore of additional funding to set up paediatric care facilities at hospitals to strengthen the health infrastructure. A major part of the stimulus package is the Government’s guarantee to banks for loans to be given to various sectors which have been affected by the pandemic. This includes provision of an additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore for emergency credit line guarantee scheme.The Government’s plan to pay the employer and employee’s share to provident fund for all new hirings done till March 2022. For this purpose, the Centre has given Rs 902 crore for around 22 lakh beneficiaries.The stimulus package cleared by the Cabinet also consists of financial support to the tourism sector, especially to 11,000 registered tourist guides and other stakeholders associated with the industry.Another component of the entire package is the additional Rs 19,041 crore announced by the Centre to provide broadband connectivity to all inhabited gram panchayats.Extension by one year of a production-linked incentive scheme for large scale electronics production and providing broadband internet to all village panchayats, are the other two components of the package.An insurance cover of Rs 88,000 crore for goods exporters and the additional subsidy of Rs 14,775 crore for DAP & P&K fertilisers are also part of the stimulus.
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