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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday met with representatives from travel, tourism, and hospitality sectors to discuss various banking-related issues.
Along with the Finance Minister, the meeting was also attended by the Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad, Finance Secretary T V Somanathan, Secretaries for Financial Services, Economic Affairs and Revenue; chiefs of public sector banks (PSBs) and Indian Banking Association (IBA), besides senior officials from the finance ministry, the Union Finance Ministry said in a tweet. Travel, tourism and hospitality sectors are among the worst hit due to the COVID pandemic. The industry leaders from these sectors have been pitching for financial support from the government. In the Union Budget 2022-23 presented in Parliament on the first day of this month, Sitharaman proposed to open an additional Rs 50,000 crore window under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to support the hospitality and related services sector. "Hospitality and related services, especially those by micro and small enterprises, are yet to regain their pre-pandemic level of business. Considering these aspects, the ECLGS will be extended up to March 2023 and its guarantee cover will be expanded by Rs 50,000 crore to a total cover of Rs 5 lakh crore with the additional amount being earmarked exclusively for hospitality and related sectors," the Finance Minister had said in the Budget speech. (ANI)
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