15 proposals of stressed NBFCs, HFCs worth Rs 6,400 cr sanctioned under special liquidity scheme

The Finance Ministry on Saturday said 15 proposals worth Rs 6,399 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 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). 

"The Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS) of Rs 30,000 crore was announced as a part of the #AatmanirbharBharat package with an aim to improve the liquidity position of NBFCs and HFCs," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a tweet.

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Sharing implementation status update of the scheme, she said, 15 proposals with a total sanctioned amount of Rs 6,399 crore have been cleared as on August 7 while 37 more applications seeking financing of up to Rs 11,037 crore are under process.

NBFCs and HFCs came under stress following a series of defaults by IL&FS group firms in September 2018.

Any NBFC including microfinance institutions registered with RBI 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.