The government has restored the Special Festival Advance Scheme for all the government employees as a one-time measure. All the central government employees can now get an interest-free advance of Rs 10,000, in the form of a prepaid RuPay Card, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Monday.

Share Market Live

NSE

The government employees will get a pre-loaded Rupay card of the advance value and the scheme will be available till March 31, 2021.

The Festival Advance can be spent anywhere and will be recoverable in a maximum of 10 instalments. The government will bear bank charges in this regard, Sitharaman said.

FM announces LTC cash voucher scheme to stimulate consumer spending

However, the cash can’t be drawn through Festival Advance Rupay Card.

Around Rs 4,000 crore is expected to be disbursed. If given by state governments, another Rs 8,000 crore is likely to be disbursed.

An additional consumer demand generated will be Rs 8,000 crore, she added.

Responding to a question posed by CNBC-TV18, Sitharaman clarified that there was no additional spend under the LTC and festival measures announced by the government today.

Read Live Updates from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Press Conference here.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Oct 12, 2020 1:39 PM IST