Aatmanirbhar Bharat: 24 proposals worth Rs 8,594 cr of stressed NBFCs, HFCs sanctioned so far under SLS

The finance ministry on Saturday said 24 proposals worth Rs 8,594 crore of stressed NBFCs and HFCs have been sanctioned under the special liquidity scheme announced as part of the Rs 20.97 lakh crore ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ package.

The scheme, which was launched on July 1, permits both primary and secondary market purchases of debt and seeks to address the short-term liquidity issues of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs).

Sharing implementation status update of the Rs 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet said that 24 proposals with a total sanctioned amount of Rs 8,594 crore have been cleared as on August 21, while 17 more applications seeking financing of up to Rs 3,684.5 crore are under process.

“The amount disbursed stood at Rs 3,279 crore as on 21.08.2020. Compared to 07.08.2020, there is an increase of Rs 2,195 crore in the amount sanctioned & an increase of Rs 2,279 crore in the amount disbursed,” she tweeted.

NBFCs and HFCs came under stress following a series of defaults by IL&FS group firms in September 2018. NBFCs including microfinance institutions registered under the RBI Act, 1934 (excluding those registered as Core Investment Companies) and any HFC registered with the National Housing Bank under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987, which is complying with certain specified conditions, are eligible to raise funding from this facility.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has provided funds for the scheme by subscribing to government-guaranteed special securities issued by a trust set up by SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICAP). The scheme is being implemented by SLS Trust, the SPV set up by SBICAP.

The special liquidity scheme is open for three months for making subscriptions by the Trust. Under the scheme, the government will provide an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the special securities issued by the Trust.

The instruments will be commercial papers and non-convertible debentures with a residual maturity of not more than three months and rated as investment grade. Therefore, those market participants who are looking to exit their standard investments with a residual maturity of 90 days may also approach the SLS Trust.