New Delhi: In a relief to people who have availed home loans, the Centre on Wednesday sanctioned Rs 973.74 crore ex gratia to the SBI as reimbursement related to loan moratorium.
The Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the payment as a relief to the borrowers affected by COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdown. It pertains to remaining claims submitted by Lending Institutions (LIs) under the scheme for grant of ex gratia payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months to borrowers in specified loan accounts from March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020, when India was hit hard by the pandemic, TNIE quoted Finance Ministry as stating.
According to sources, about 1,612 LIs have 23,89,30,080 beneficiaries with a claim of Rs 6,473.74 crore, out of which Rs 5,500 crore was disbursed earlier, and claims of Rs 973.74 crore was pending.
Due to the pandemic, a scheme for grant of ex gratia payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months to borrowers in specified loan accounts from March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020 was approved by the Cabinet in October 2020, envisaging an outlay of Rs 5,500 crore.
Budget allocation of Rs 5,500 crore was made for the scheme in 2020-2021 financial year. The amount of Rs 5,500 crore, as approved by the Cabinet, has been disbursed to SBI, the nodal agency under the scheme, for reimbursement to lending institutions.
