Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government’s ambitious One Time Settlement (OTS) scheme offered to mining loan borrowers wound up on Thursday, with the government refusing to extend it.
The scheme, aimed to provide debt relief to truck and barge owners dependent on the iron ore mining industry, was introduced in September 2014, and was extended thrice, the final deadline ending today.
Under the scheme, 3978 applications have been sanctioned with a subsidy of Rs 80 crore.
At a recent meeting with bankers and financial institutions, the government realized that the scheme is receiving a poor response. Concern was expressed over the increasing non-performing assets (NPAs) in the mining-related sectors for the banks, leading to losses.
The government’s refusal to grant extension to the scheme, has granted freedom to financial institutions to freeze the assets of loan borrowers to recover the dues.
The OTS scheme first lapsed in March 2015 and was extended by six months up to September 4. Later it was further extended to December and then up to March 31, this year.
As per the Debt Relief scheme, a subsidy up to 35 percent on the total loan settlement amount is provided. The banks and financial institutions are granting a waiver of 100 percent on the interest from September 2012 and 40 percent waiver on the principal loan amount for trucks owners and 30 percent to barge owners.
