Cabinet approves Special Banking Arrangement for paying subsidies to fertiliser firms

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has accorded the ex-post facto approval for implementation of Special Banking Arrangement (SBA) for Rs 10,000 crore for payment of outstanding claims on account of fertilizer subsidy in the year 2016-17, an official statement said here on Wednesday.

The CCEA has also approved that, in future, Department of Fertilizers would avail the SBA with the concurrence of Department of Expenditure.

"Under the SBA, a total loan of Rs 9,969 crore for settlement of outstanding subsidy bills with SBI was raised by the government. The loan amount along with interest liability on the part of government amounting to Rs 80.90 crore were paid to State Bank of India," the statement said.

The SBA for an amount of Rs. 10,000 crore for the year 2016-17 has already been implemented/ operationalised to overcome the liquidity problems of the fertilizer companies, it added.

--IANS

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