COVID-19 Economic Measures

📊 High-Yield Data & Statistical Fact Sheet

Cue Words	Notes
CRR Reduction	Cash Reserve Ratio temporarily cut from 4.0% to 3.0%.
Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR)	LCR temporarily cut from 100% to 80%.
State WMA Limits	Ways and Means Advances limits for States/UTs raised by 60%.
Special Refinance Window	₹50,000 Crore distributed to NABARD (₹25k Cr), SIDBI (₹15k Cr), NHB (₹10k Cr).
PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)	Provided 5 kg free food grains per person per month to 80 Crore beneficiaries (merged into NFSA).
ECLGS Credit Guarantees	100% collateral-free credit guarantees for MSMEs and business enterprises.
Defense Sector FDI	Automatic route FDI limit raised from 49% to 74%.

1. MONETARY AND LIQUIDITY MEASURES (RBI)

Cue Words	Notes
Loan Moratorium	Moratorium on term loan installments granted.
NPA Asset Classification Relaxation	Asset classification period extended from 90 to 180 days.
CCyB Capital Buffer	Postponed implementation of Countercyclical Capital Buffer.

2. FISCAL RELIEF & PM GARIB KALYAN YOJANA

Cue Words	Notes
Healthcare Insurance Cover	₹50 Lakh life insurance cover per healthcare worker.
PMJDY Women Cash Transfer	₹500/month for 3 months deposited directly into PMJDY accounts.
Ujjwala LPG Support	3 free LPG cylinder refills provided to 8 Crore families.
PM CARES Fund CSR Status	Qualifies 100% as eligible corporate CSR expenditure and Section 80G tax exemption.

3. AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT & MSME/GLOBAL SUPPORT MEASURES

Cue Words	Notes
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan — 5 Pillars	Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography, and Demand — announced as a broad self-reliance package alongside COVID relief.
Revised MSME Definition (COVID-era trigger)	Investment- and turnover-based MSME classification was revised (raising thresholds) partly to help pandemic-hit small businesses retain MSME benefits as they scaled.
Global Tender Restriction	Government tenders up to ₹200 crore were reserved for domestic bidders only, to protect Indian MSMEs from foreign competition during the downturn.
COVID-19 Monetary Measures Worldwide	Central banks globally (US Fed, ECB, Bank of England) cut policy rates near zero and launched large-scale asset-purchase/quantitative-easing programmes to support liquidity during the pandemic.

4. FUNDAMENTALS CHECK — ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT SIZE & FISCAL vs MONETARY SPLIT

Cue Words	Notes
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan — Package Size	Announced May 2020 as a total economic package of ₹20 Lakh Crore (~10% of India's GDP), covering RBI's prior monetary measures + fresh fiscal stimulus + structural reforms — announced in tranches across the 5 pillars (Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography, Demand) listed above.
Fiscal vs Monetary COVID Response — Basic Distinction	**Monetary measures** (RBI-led): CRR/LCR/reverse-repo cuts, loan moratorium, NPA-classification relaxation, special refinance windows, TLTROs — aim to ease liquidity/credit flow through the banking system. **Fiscal measures** (Government-led): PMGKAY food distribution, direct cash transfers (PMJDY), ECLGS credit guarantees, tax-deadline extensions, and budgetary expenditure — aim to directly support household consumption and firm-level cash flow via the government's own spending/revenue tools.

5. ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT — STRUCTURAL & REGULATORY CHANGES

Cue Words	Notes
IBC Default Threshold Raised	Insolvency under the IBC, 2016 can be initiated when the minimum amount of default is ₹1 crore — amended in the Atmanirbhar package; earlier it was ₹1 lakh — this shields MSMEs from insolvency proceedings for small defaults.
Revised MSME Classification (1 June 2020 Cabinet Meeting) — Exact Thresholds	Composite **investment + turnover** criterion, applied uniformly to **Manufacturing and Services**: **Micro** — Investment **< ₹1 cr** AND Turnover **< ₹5 cr**. **Small** — Investment **< ₹10 cr** AND Turnover **< ₹50 cr**. **Medium** — Investment **< ₹50 cr** AND Turnover **< ₹250 cr**. It was also decided that **turnover with respect to exports will NOT be counted** in the turnover limits for any category of MSME unit — helping bring more units under MSME classification even if their exports are large. **No items are reserved now for exclusive MSME production.**
Operation Greens — TOP to TOTAL	**Operation Greens** (by MoFPI) stabilises the supply of **TOP — Tomato, Onion, Potato**; **under Aatmanirbhar it was expanded from TOP to TOTAL** (other fruits and vegetables added). Developed by **NAFED**, which is the **nodal agency for implementing price stabilisation measures** under Operation Greens. **MIEWS (Market Intelligence and Early Warning System)** by MoFPI does **real-time monitoring of TOP prices** and generates **alerts for intervention** under Operation Greens.

6. COVID-ERA LIQUIDITY, MIGRANT & BUSINESS-SUPPORT MEASURES

Cue Words	Notes
Liquidity Coverage Ratio — Mechanics of the Cut	LCR = **(High quality liquid assets) / (Bank's net cash outflow for a 30-day period)**; highly liquid assets (cash, G-secs) to be maintained to survive an **acute stress scenario lasting 30 days**; normally **LCR must be ≥ 100%**. **Brought down to 80% by RBI in April 2020** due to the Corona crisis.
Ways and Means Advances — Base Rules Behind the COVID Hike	RBI gives **temporary loan facilities to Centre and State governments** under WMA; **introduced in 1997** (before that ad-hoc T-Bills were used). Loan for **3 months / 90 days charged at the Repo Rate**; if extended beyond 90 days it becomes an **overdraft** (interest rate **2% higher**, and for a **maximum of 10 consecutive days** only). **Limits for WMA are mutually decided by Government and RBI — recently increased by 60% due to COVID-19.**
Business Immunity Platform (BIP)	A **comprehensive resource** to help **businesses and investors get real-time updates on India's response to COVID-19**. **By Invest India.**
National Migrant Information System (COVID Response)	**Online dashboard developed by NDMA** maintaining a **central repository of migrant workers**; enabled **speedy inter-state communication** to facilitate movement of migrant workers to native places and **contact tracing during COVID-19**.
Equalisation Levy Expansion (Finance Act, 2020)	New equalisation levy of 2% on revenue of e-commerce operators (who sold more than ₹2 cr of goods & services) without a tangible presence in India (B2C) — a 2020 measure alongside the pandemic-era digital-economy shift; the earlier Finance Act, 2016 levy was 6% for B2B online-advertisement payments.