Raise ECLGS loan limit further, apparel export council urges Centre

New Delhi [India], August 2 : The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) on Sunday thanked the Centre for raising the outstanding loan limit to Rs 50 crore for availing Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).
In his letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, AEPC chairman A Sakthivel urged that the outstanding loan limit be raised to Rs 100 crore for extending financial succour to industry impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a release issued by the AEPC said.
"I sincerely thank the Honourable Finance Minister for all her timely support. We welcome the decision of the Government to increase the outstanding loan limit from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore and for raising the turnover criteria from Rs 100 crore to Rs 250 crore for availing ECLGS," the release quoted him as saying.
Pointing out that the government revised the eligibility criteria for ECLGS, it said, "The Government revised the eligibility criteria for availing ECLGS including extending it to individual loans that were taken for business purposes. The ECLGS was approved by the Union Cabinet on May 20, 2020, with a provision of fully guaranteed additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore to eligible borrowers."
"While more than half of the targeted additional funding is yet to be sanctioned, there are many medium scale industrialists who are bereft of the special financial assistance. The need of the hour is to expand the outstanding loan limit to Rs 100 crore and there should be no turnover criteria for exporters," Sakthivel added.
"The chairman said that while the turnover of exporters may seem large due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations, the thin margin on which the Apparel Exporters work and the perishable nature of their products make them vulnerable to any changes in export orders and delay in shipment, which is clearly evident during the ongoing crisis," the release added.