Lockdown 4.0 Centre Extends Till 31st May

Union home ministry on Sunday extended the lockdown for another 2 weeks till 31st May to contain the spread of Covid-19. While the detailed guidelines on easing of restrictions were awaited, officials sources said the center is likely to allow public transport and reopening of restaurants and shopping malls subject to certain conditions.

In India, there are 91,449 confirmed cases of coronavirus, out of which total deaths are 2896 and recovered cases are 34,645. Active cases are still 53,908.

NDMA(National Disaster Management Authority), the apex disaster management body, in its recommendations to the home ministry, said, “Considering the fact that lockdown measures need to be implemented for a further period in the country to contain the spread of COVID 19, NDMA in the exercise of its powers under the DM act, 2005, directs the ministries, departments of GOI(Government of India), States governments and authorities to continue the lockdown measures up to 31st May..”

NDMA has asked the National Executive Council (NEC) to amend the guidelines to open up economic activities.

Officials sources added that the guidelines may ease plying of auto-rickshaws and cab aggregators, with up to 1-2 passengers. The latest guidelines are based on suggestions from states that PM Narendra Modi had sought during his 5th discussions with chief ministers on the pandemic on 11th May.

This is the 3rd extension to the lockdown, which was 1st imposed from 25th March and then extended from 15t April and 4th May. States and Union Territories are expected to get further leeway to define containment zones and allow permitted activities in non-containment zones, said officials.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made life easier for businesses struggling to deal with the side-effects of COVID. As part of the 5th tranche, the government suspended the bankruptcy code for a year.

Count So Far

• Maharashtra tally crosses 30,000-mark
• 66 more Maharashtra Police personnel test positive
• Tamil Nadu adds 477 new cases; state tally now 10,585
• 70 new cases take Rajasthan tally to 5030; toll now 128
• One more case in Goa; state tally rises to 16
• Odisha now has 828 cases; death toll now 5
• Assam count reaches 95
• 5 more CISF personnel test positive in the last 24 hours
• Andhra reports 25 new cases; total now 2,230

Must Read: Lockdown 4.0 PM Modi Announces Rs.20 Lakh crore Economic Package

Booster Fine Print

• COVID-related debt to be excluded from default under IBC
• No fresh insolvency for next one year
• The minimum threshold to initiate insolvency raised to Rs 1 crore
• Most violations under Companies Act to be decriminalized
• Companies can now list securities directly in foreign jurisdictions
• All sectors opened to the private sector
• State’s borrowing limit increased from 3% to 5%
• Additional funding of Rs 40,000 crore for MGNREGA(Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)
• All districts to have infectious disease hospitals, public health labs

Break-Up of India’s Rs 20-lakh crore economic package

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 17th May provided a tranche-wise break up of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost the economy in view of the coronavirus crisis. Here is the table of all the announcements so far, totaling over Rs 20 lakh crores: 

Economic Package Component	Announced Amount (Rs crore)
Earlier Stimulus Measures incl PM Garib Kalyan Package	1,92,800
RBI’s Measures (Actual)	8,01,603
Tranche 1 (MSME + NBFC + Power)	5,94,550
Tranche 2 (Migrants, KCC, Nabard, MUDRA, etc)	3,10,000
Tranche 3 (Agriculture)	1,50,000
Tranche 4 + 5	48,100
Total	20,97,053

Tranche 1: Rs 5,94,550 crore

• Emergency working capital facility for businesses: Rs 3 lakh crore
• Subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs: Rs 20,000 crore
• Fund of fund for MSMEs: Rs 50,000 crore
• EPF support for businesses and workers: Rs 2,800 crore
• Reduction in EPF rates: Rs 6,750 crore
• Special liquidity scheme for NBFCs, HFCs & MGIS: Rs 30,000 crore
• Partial credit guarantee scheme 2.0 for liabilities of NBFCs and MFIs: Rs 45,000 crore
• DISCOMS: Rs 90,000 crore
• Reduction in TDS/TCS rates: Rs 50,000 crore

Tranche 2: Rs 3,10,000 crore

• For migrant workers free food grain supply for 2 months: Rs 3,500 crore
• For MUDRA Shishu loans subvention of Interest: Rs 1,500 crore
• For street vendors special credit facility: Rs 5,000 crore
• Housing CLSS-MIG: Rs 70,000 crore
• Additional emergency WCF through NABARD: Rs 30,000 crore
• Additional credit through Kisan Credit Credit: Rs 2 lakh crore

Tranche 3: Rs 1,50,000 crore

• Micro food enterprises (MFEs): Rs 10,000 crore
• PM Matsya Sampada Yojana: Rs 20,000 crore
• TOP to TOTAL: Rs 500 crore
• Agri infra fund: Rs 1 lakh crore
• Animal husbandry infra development fund: Rs 15,000 crore
• Promotion of herbal cultivation: Rs 4,000 crore
• Beekeeping initiative: Rs 500 crore

Tranche 4+5: Rs 48,100 crore

• Viability Gap Funding: Rs 8,100 crore
• Additional MGNREGS Allocation: Rs 40,000 crore

Conclusion

Thus the total outlay for the 5 announcements stands at just over Rs 11 lakh crore. A few days into the lockdown the government had announced a package totaling up to Rs 1.92 lakh crore including Rs 1.7 lakh crore sanctioned under the PM Gareeb Kalyan Yojana. The remaining Rs 8.01 lakh crore is part of the liquidity measures announced by the RBI since March.

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