FM unveils stressed asset fund; measures for exports, real estate sectors to boost growth

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday unveiled over Rs 70,000 crore of measures for exporters and the real estate sector, including about Rs 30,000 crore new spending in plans such as setting up of a stressed asset fund, as part of efforts to boost economic growth from a six-year low.

While measures to boost exports include remission of duties, higher insurance coverage and technology enablement to cut downtime at ports, for real estate sector a Rs 20,000 crore fund -- with half of the money coming from the government -- will be set up to provide last-mile funding for housing projects that are not in bankruptcy courts or already tagged as bad debt.

The remission based incentive scheme for export of goods would involve Rs 50,000 crore of outgo, higher than the Rs 40,000-45,000 crore budgeted in existing plans that it is replacing.

At a press conference called to announce the third and final set of measures to address stress in specific sectors and bolster growth, Sitharaman ..