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<ul><li>The government will provide 5kg of food grains per person every month, under the programme.</li><li>The extension could impact the government's fiscal deficit target for FY24 say economists.</li><li>Free schemes can lead to competitive populism and pose risks to the economy, they claim. </li></ul>The government has decided to extend its free foodgrains programme for another five-years. Under the programme, the government will provide 5kg of food grains per person every month. This move, which was expected to be discontinued by the end of 2023, reflects the challenges of withdrawing populist policies, especially ahead of elections, claim economists. While the near-term macro implications are expected to be muted, there are concerns about the medium-term risks associated with the extension. According to <keyword id="6354527" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nomura" source="Orion">Nomura</keyword>, food procurement cost of the government is expected to increase and so will the food subsidy bill, which has been coming down over the years. The extension of the free foodgrains programme is not expected to have a significant near-term impact. The scheme, which costs ₹2 trillion or 0.7% of GDP annually, is already part of the government's existing subsidised foodgrains programme. However, the extension could impact the government's fiscal deficit target for FY24, as higher revenue expenditure, including on rural employment guarantees, may strain the budget. Over the medium term, the extension of the free foodgrains programme raises concerns about the government's revenue and food subsidy bill. As the government forgoes revenues from its subsidised food sales, estimated to be around 0.05% of GDP annually, the procurement costs and food subsidy bill are likely to increase, says Nomura. While the need for subsidised grains for lower-income households is undeniable, the announcement of free schemes can lead to competitive populism and pose risks to the economy. The announcement by Prime Minister Modi extends the free foodgrains programme for the next five years, until December 2028. This programme allows eligible citizens to purchase 5kg of food grains per person per month at highly subsidised prices. During the pandemic, an additional 5kg of food grains were provided free of cost under the <keyword id="4015637" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pradhan-mantri-garib" source="Orion">Pradhan Mantri Garib</keyword> Kalyan <keyword id="196713" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="anna-yojana" source="Orion">Anna Yojana</keyword> (PMGKAY). The recent announcement effectively cements this policy for the medium term. The extension of the free foodgrains programme can be attributed to political compulsions, particularly with upcoming elections. Populism has become a dominant theme, with promises of "freebies" from various political parties. The ruling <keyword id="58687" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bharatiya-janata-party" source="Orion">Bharatiya Janata Party</keyword> (<keyword id="14666" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bjp" source="Orion">BJP</keyword>) is also attempting to sound populist to counter its rivals. However, the unsustainability of the previous system, which led to high fiscal costs and complicated procurement, necessitated a change in approach. While the fiscal impact for the current year is manageable, the government will forgo revenues from subsidised food sales, and the food subsidy bill is likely to increase over time. However, the extension is not expected to have a significant inflationary impact, as the programme is unlikely to lead to enhanced stress on cereal stocks.

Government extends free food-grains programme for 5 years, raises medium-term risks

Ever since demonetization was announced, more than 200 people and companies have deposited unaccounted money amounting to Rs 600 crore in <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword> and Puducherry. While most deposits have been made in rural areas of the state, some of the deposits were made at the banks in the suburbs of Chennai. 
 According to a TOI report, a person at <keyword id="1264335" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tiruchengode">Tiruchengode</keyword> in <keyword id="6358688" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Namakkal">Namakkal</keyword> district deposited Rs 246 crore in a branch of the <keyword id="107781" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Overseas-Bank">Indian Overseas Bank</keyword>."We were following him for more than 15 days after finding that he had deposited cash in a rural branch of the IOB. First, he tried to hide, but after a few days he agreed to join the <keyword id="3895682" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="pradhan-mantri-garib-kalyan-yojana">Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana</keyword> (PMGKY) and pay 45% of the total money as tax. As per PMGKY, 25% of the money will be retained with the government without any interest," a senior I-T investigation wing official told TOI. 
 "In TN and <keyword id="6469289" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pondy">Pondy</keyword>, we found 28,000 accounts to be suspicious and some of the accounts had deposits in cash to the tune of Rs 85 lakh or move. In the first instance, we send a mail to the account holder asking for details. Most of them have replied and some of the cases have been closed or they have joined the PMGKY scheme accepting that the cash was black money," he said. 
 
The officials have decided to wait till end of March. If the suspicious accounts don’t come forward on their own, the bank would ask them to pay 83.5% fine.

This Tamil Nadu man just
deposited Rs 246 crore of unaccounted money in Indian Overseas Bank

New Delhi, In order to allow Ujjwala beneficiaries get their full quota of three <keyword id="51661" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="cooking-gas">cooking gas</keyword> cylinders free of charge, the government on Wednesday extended the time limit for availing the benefit by three months till September 30. The decision on the extension was taken by <keyword id="3466084" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-union-cabinet">the Union Cabinet</keyword> which also approved a host of measures aimed at helping the poor and vulnerable sections of the society overcome the pangs of the Covid-19 crisis. Under the Ujjwala Yojana, the government gives <keyword id="7575050" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="free-cooking-gas">free cooking gas</keyword> connection to women members of BPL families. There are about 7.49 crore Ujjwala beneficiaries as of now. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced earlier to provide a safety net to the poor and vulnerable who had been hit the hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, the government announced three free cylinders for Ujjwala beneficiaries for three months between April and June. But since several beneficiaries could not take the benefit of the entire scheme, the government has extended the deadline. Under the scheme, Rs 9,709.86 crore was transferred directly into the bank accounts of Ujjwala beneficiaries during April-June 2020 and 11.97 crore cylinders were delivered to the PMUY beneficiaries. The scheme went a long way to ameliorate the suffering and disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. On review of the scheme, it was observed that a section of PMUY beneficiaries were yet to utilise the advance credited into their account to purchase the cylinder refill within the scheme period. Hence, the Cabinet has approved the proposal of <keyword id="9269994" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-ministry-of-petroleum-natural-gas">the Ministry of Petroleum &amp; Natural Gas</keyword> to extend the time limit for availing the advance by three more months, a government statement said. This will benefit those PMUY beneficiaries who have been credited with the advance for buying cylinders, but have not been able to purchase the refill. Thus, the beneficiaries who already have the advance transferred to their accounts can now take the free refill delivery till September 30.

Free LPG cylinders for Ujjwala Yojana extended till September 30

<ul><li>As a third wave of <keyword id="8763838" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> is expected by many, <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>’s Finance Minister announces a series of relief packages. </li><li>A loan guarantee scheme of ₹1 trillion for COVID-19 affected sectors like <keyword id="6354525" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="healthcare">healthcare</keyword>. </li><li>Dedicates ₹50,000 crore to <keyword id="54598" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Healthcare-sector">healthcare sector</keyword> and remaining ₹60,000 crore to other affected sectors. </li></ul>India’s <keyword id="7706673" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="finance-minister-nirmala-sitharaman">Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> has announced an array of relief measures for COVID-19 affected sectors, as the country is going through economic distress. To start with, <keyword id="679937" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sitharaman">Sitharaman</keyword> announced a ₹1 trillion loan guarantee scheme for COVID-19 affected sectors like healthcare. Out of ₹1 trillion, the healthcare sector will receive ₹50,000 crore which will be utilised to scale up medical infrastructure in the country targeting underserved areas. It announced an additional ₹1.5 trillion to the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). This scheme is aimed to provide 100% guaranteed coverage to the banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and other lending institutions for extending emergency credit to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and business entities that have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are struggling to meet their working capital requirements. Further, it has launched a credit guarantee scheme wherein micro finance institutions (MFIs) will facilitate loans to 25 lakh small borrowers for a tenure of three years. All borrowers including defaulters upto 89 days will be eligible. Most importantly, the government will back scheduled commercial banks for providing loans to NBFCs-MFIs. For badly affected sectors like tourism, the government has initiated a revival plan. It has announced plans to extend financial support to 11,000 registered tourist guides. According to Sitharaman, working capital will be provided to people in the tourism sector to kickstart businesses impacted due to the pandemic. Moving on, Sitharaman announced free tourist visas to the first 5 lakh tourists coming into India. The scheme will be applicable till March 31, 2022 or till 5 lakh visas are issued. Here are other key highlights from the Finance Minister’s press conference: <ul><li>The EPF support to employers and employees under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana has been extended till March 31, 2022. The government incentivises employers by contributing employers’ and employees' share payable into Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) scheme. This encourages employers from various sectors to hire more workers</li><li>Also, the government has extended Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) scheme till November 2021, wherein it distributes food grains free of cost. The scheme was started in March 2020.</li><li>On increasing fears of an impending third wave to affect children, Sitharaman announced a new scheme focused on availability of paediatric care/paediatric beds in the short term.</li><li>North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) will be provided with a relief package of ₹77.45 crore for financial restructuring and infusion of funds. The aim is to enhance agricultural procurement and marketing facilities in the northeast of India.</li><li>To boost digitisation among gram panchayats, the government is said to provide an additional ₹19,041 crore for BharatNet. The idea is to enable broadband connectivity to all inhabited villages.</li></ul>See Also - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/tiger-global-overtakes-sequoia-as-the-top-investor-in-indian-unicorns-in-2021-cracks-15-deals-this-year-so-far/articleshow/83912624.cms">Tiger Global overtakes Sequoia as the top investor in Indian unicorns in 2021</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/kims-ipo-listed-in-stock-market-at-over-20-premium/articleshow/83912694.cms">KIMS IPO: Stock listed at over 20% premium, loses initial gains after soaring to ₹1059 per share</a>

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces over ₹1 trillion loan guarantee scheme for COVID-19 affected sectors such as healthcare

New Delhi, Mar 26 () The Centre on Thursday announced free distribution of five kilo of foodgrains per person and one kilo pulses per household, for next three months to over 80 crore rationcard holders to ensure that no poor stays hungry during the COVID-19 lockdown. This will be over and above what the rationcard holders are getting at present under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) at a highly subsidised price of Rs 2/kg for wheat and Rs 3/kg for rice. Announcing the relief measures in 36 hours since lockdown, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said free distribution of foodgrains and pulses will be provided under the Rs 1.7 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). "Under PMGKY, 80 crore poor people, which comprise two thirds of our population, will get 5 kilo foodgrains per person for free for the next three months. This will be over and above the existing quota of 5 kg under the PDS," Sitharaman said. Besides, one kilo of pulses of regional preference will be provided to each poor household for free next three months, she said. The rationcard holders can take the foodgrains and pulses from the Public Distribution System (PDS) in two installments, she added. "This measure will ensure no gareeb (poor) remains hungry," Sitharaman said. According to official data, the government has total 58.49 million tonnes of foodgrains in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns so far. Out of which, rice is 30.97 million tonnes and wheat 27.52 million tonne. The foodgrains stock is much higher than the required norm of maintaining a reserve of about 21 million tonnes as on April 1. LUX DRRDRR

Govt to give extra 5 kg grains, 1 kg pulses for free under PDS for next 3 months: FM

Mumbai, Mar 26 () Equity benchmark Sensex was trading over 1,000 points higher in afternoon session on Thursday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a stimulus package worth Rs 1.70 lakh crore to cushion the impact of the lockdown in wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Paring early gains, the 30-share BSE barometer was up 1,055.11 points or 3.70 per cent at 29,590.89. It rallied over 1,500 points in morning session. Similarly, the NSE Nifty stood 284.20 points, or 3.42 per cent, higher at 8,602.05 at 1430 hours. IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up to 34 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&amp;T, Bajaj Finance and HDFC. On the other hand, Maruti, Reliance Industries, NTPC and Sun Pharma were among the top laggards.In an effort to cushion the economic blow of the 21-day lockdown to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to help the citizens survive the crisis.The Rs 1.70 lakh crore economic package will be implemented with immediate effect.The Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan scheme includes distribution of 5 kg of wheat or rice and one kg of preferred pulses free-of-cost every month over the next three months to 80 crore poor across the country and Rs 500 per month for next three months to as many of 20.5 crore women Jan Dhan Account holders. The government will front-load Rs 2,000 paid to farmers in first week of April under existing PM Kisan Yojana to benefit 8.69 crore farmers. The Finance Minister also said a Rs 50 lakh insurance cover will be given to healthcare workers who are at the forefront of dealing with the pandemic. The Indian rupee appreciated further by 84 paise to 75.10 against the US dollar in intra-day trade after the announcement. The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 649 in India and the death toll rose to 13, with one death reported each from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, according to the Health Ministry. ANSANSANS

Sensex trades 1,000 pts higher after FM announces Rs 1.70 lakh cr-stimulus package

Mumbai, Mar 26 () The Indian rupee appreciated further by 84 paise to 75.10 against the US dollar in intra-day trade on Thursday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced various welfare measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Among various welfare measures, Sitharaman announced Rs 1.70 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan scheme to help the needy and said that 80 crore poor people will to get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for the next three months. Moreover, she said the government will front-load Rs 2,000 paid to farmers in first week of April under existing PM Kishan Yojana to benefit 8.69 crore farmers. Forex traders welcomed the government initiatives and said the measures showed that the government is willing to take hard steps to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The rupee which opened on a positive note at 75.90, gained further momentum and touched a high of 75.10 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 84 paise over its previous closing. On Tuesday, rupee had gained 26 paise to settled at 75.94 against the US dollar after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is working on an economic package to deal with the coronavirus crisis. Forex market was closed on Wednesday on account of Gudi Padwa. The domestic stimulus measures announced by the government boosted investor sentiment. However, there are still concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the domestic as well as global economy. The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus has crossed over 21,000. In India, more than 600 coronavirus cases have been reported so far. Meanwhile, domestic bourses were trading with gains with benchmark indices Sensex trading 760.99 points higher at 29,296.77 and Nifty up by 226.50 points at 8,544.35. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold equity shares worth Rs 1,893.36 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 3.03 per cent to USD 26.56 per barrel. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies was trading 0.36 per cent lower at 100.68. The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.31 per cent in morning trade. DRR DRRDRR

Rupee rises 84 paise against USD after govt announces welfare measures to fight COVID-19

New Delhi, Apr 13 () The government has disbursed Rs 16,621 crore to about 8.31 crore beneficiary farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme since March 24, the day lockdown was announced to curb COVID-19.The total amount released during the lockdown period also includes last year's due payment of Rs 1,674.43 crore which has been disbursed to 83.77 lakh beneficiary farmers, an official statement said.The rest Rs 14,945 crore has been released to 7.47 crore farmers as the first installment under the PM-KISAN for the 2020-21 fiscal which started from April 1.Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, the Centre transfers an amount of Rs 6,000 per year, in three equal instalments, directly into the bank accounts of farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher income status.To give immediate relief to farmers affected by the nationwide lockdown, the government had on March 27 promised to transfer the first installment of Rs 2,000 to each of 8.69 crore beneficiaries under the scheme, in the first week of April.Besides, the Centre said it has dispatched 3,985 tonnes of pulses for free delivery to PDS beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY).The Union Agriculture Ministry has also decided to allow 'Truthful Label seeds' for subsidy components for the North East, Hilly regions and the UTs of Jammu &amp; Kashmir only, for all crops under National Food Security Mission.The ministry further said organic products are being delivered in Punjab at doorstep in the specially designed electric van under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).In Maharashtra, 21,11,171 quintals of fruits and vegetables have been sold by 27,797 Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs) in 34 districts by online/direct sale method, it added. LUX MR

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Government extends free food-grains programme for 5 years, raises medium-term risks

BI India Bureau

This Tamil Nadu man just deposited Rs 246 crore of unaccounted money in Indian Overseas Bank

BI India Bureau

Free LPG cylinders for Ujjwala Yojana extended till September 30

BI India Bureau

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces over ₹1 trillion loan guarantee scheme for COVID-19 affected sectors such as healthcare

Bhakti Makwana

Govt to give extra 5 kg grains, 1 kg pulses for free under PDS for next 3 months: FM

PTI

Sensex trades 1,000 pts higher after FM announces Rs 1.70 lakh cr-stimulus package

PTI

Rupee rises 84 paise against USD after govt announces welfare measures to fight COVID-19

PTI

Govt disburses Rs 16,621cr under PM-KISAN since lockdown

PTI

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