By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, DEC 31, 2016: CONTRARY to the high-decibel campaign leading to inflated expectations about a large basket of balming concessions post-demonetisation, the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, in his address to the Nation, did unveil some concessions for certain sections of the society and also the industry but it was certainly not a big-bang announcement.

While thanking the common man for bearing the pain of demonetisation for 50 days he also patted the back of the large workforce of bankers who worked overtime to cater to the needs of the public. However, he did not forget to talk about some of those bankers who violated laws and they would have to face the music.

While announcing relief for the MSMEs, the PM said that the Govt would hike the credit guarantee limit to Rs two crore, and it would also cover NBFC loans. To promote digital payments, the PM said that the banks would increase the working capital loan limit from 20% to 30% of turnover.

For senior citizens, the PM expressed his desired to cushion more relief in terms of higher monthly income. To do so, he has promised a stable 8% interest rate for 10 years up to a deposit of Rs 7.5 lakh. For pregnant women, the cash relief is to be hiked from Rs 4000 to Rs 6000 in all 650 districts.

To leg up the badly-bruised real estate sector, the Govt has decided to give a tangible fillip by offering 4% interest rebate on loans up to Rs 9 lakh taken for urban poor housing scheme. It would be 3% rebate for loans up to Rs 12 lakh.

For farmers, the Govt is going to bear the cost of 60 days interest on loans taken for rabi crops taken from District Cooperative Banks and Primary Credit Societies. This is to cost Govt about Rs 20,000 Crore.

To curb the use of black money, the PM also called for a debate over the proposition to hold simultaneous polls in the country.