Healthcare gets Rs 50k-crore boost

Mumbai: Amid spurt in coronavirus cases, RBI on Wednesday announced an on-tap liquidity window of Rs 50,000 crore for companies engaged in healthcare infrastructure and services.

The facility of on-tap liquidity with tenors of up to three years at the repo rate will remain open till March 31, 2022, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing steps to deal with the impact of the second wave of coronavirus pandemic.

Under the scheme, banks may provide fresh lending support to a wide range of entities including vaccine manufacturers, importers/suppliers of vaccines and priority medical devices, hospitals and dispensaries, pathology labs, manufactures and suppliers of oxygen and ventilators, importers of vaccines and Covid related drugs, logistics firms and also patients for treatment.

The banks, Das said, are being incentivised for quick delivery of credit under the scheme through extension of priority sector classification to such lending up to March 31, 2022.

These loans, he added, will continue to be classified under priority sector till repayment or maturity, whichever is earlier.

"Banks may deliver these loans to borrowers directly or through intermediary financial entities regulated by the RBI. Banks are expected to create a Covid loan book under the scheme," the Governor said.