Page 16 - Banking Finance June 2020

ROUNDUP

to the financial requirements of people scheme for crop loans for three months Fund. The fund consists entirely of vol-
residing in the hinterlands.... The new till August 31. untary contributions from individuals/
FI&MM vertical will provide an oppor- The move to increase the turnover organisations and does not get any
tunity to serve small business, agri and limit for medium units to Rs 250 crore budgetary support.
allied segments so that they can run took into account the rising cost of Donations to PM CARES Fund would
their businesses smoothly, especially in
businesses and is expected to bring a qualify for 80G benefits for 100 per
the current times of uncertainty," he much larger number of companies into cent exemption under the Income Tax
added.
the MSME fold. The government clari- Act, 1961.
To ensure special focus and smooth fied proceeds from exports will not be In the wake of the pandemic, the list
functioning at the local level, SBI said counted in the turnover limit for any of CSR activities was expanded to in-
the FI&MM vertical will have a four- MSME. clude promotion of health care, ex-
tier structure under the Chief General Sharad Kumar Saraf, president of the penses towards preventive health care
Manager, General Manager, and Re-
Federation of Indian Exports Organiza- and sanitation and disaster manage-
gional Manager at Regional Business
tions, said the move will bring automa- ment. Now the PM CARES Fund has
Offices and District Sales Hubs (DSH) to
tion to certain processes that are re- been added.
strengthen the credit delivery system
quired for competitive manufacturing.
and improve the turnaround time for Trust for Ayodhya temple
quick sanctions and disbursement of Contributions to PM-
small loans. gets special I-T exemption
CARES fund will be consid- Donors contributing to the Shri Ram
Medium scale companies ered as CSR: Govt Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, set up

turnover limit increased to The Centre has notified that contribu- on February 5 this year, to build a
tions to the PM CARES Fund will be temple in Ayodhya, will be granted tax
Rs. 250 cr considered as part of Corporate Social exemption under Section 80G of the

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Responsibility (CSR) of companies. Income-tax Act from financial year
2020-21.
Affairs (CCEA) approved reclassification
"In Schedule VII, item (viii), after the
of medium scale companies as those words 'Prime Minister's National Relief In a notification, the Central Board of
with Rs 50 crore as investments and Rs Fund', the words "or Prime Minister's Direct Taxes notified the Shri Ram
250 crore as turnover, up from Rs 20 Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emer- Janambhoomi Tirath Kshetra as "a
crore and Rs 100 crore, respectively. gency Situations Fund (PM CARES place of historic importance and a place
This comes after Union Finance Minis- Fund)" shall be inserted," a Govern- of public worship of renown" under
ter Nirmala Sitharaman expanded the ment notification dated May 26 said. clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section
definition of medium, small manufac- Further, it added that this notification 80G of the Income-Tax Act and granted
deduction to the extent of 50% to those
turing enterprises (MSMEs) while an- shall be deemed to have come into
nouncing the Rs 20-trillion force on March 28, 2020. who make donations to the Trust.
Atmanirbhar Bharat package. To mop up funds to fight the Covid-19 The income of the Trust would already
The government also raised the mini- pandemic, the government set up PM be exempt under Sections 11 and 12
mum support price (MSP) of 17 kharif CARES Fund as a public charitable trust. of the Income-Tax Act like other noti-
crops in the range of 2-7.5 per cent The fund's primary objective is to deal fied religious trusts.
year-on-year on the day India got its with any kind of emergency or distress The exemption under Section 80G is
first monsoon shower. The increase in situation, such as the Covid-19 pan- not available to all religious trusts. A
MSP was among the lowest in last five demic, and provide relief to the af- charitable or religious trust has to first
years for many crops. The new prices fected. The Prime Minister is the apply for registration for income
would be 50-83 per cent more over the exofficio Chairman of the PM CARES tax exemption under section 11 and
cost of production, agriculture minister Fund, and Minister of Defence, Minis- 12, following which the exemption
Narendra Tomar said. The Centre also ter of Home Affairs and Minister of under Section 80G is granted to the
extended the interest subvention Finance are ex-officio trustees of the donors. T

16 | 2020 | JUNE | BANKING FINANCE