92. To enable the State Government to deal with the situation,
Government of India is extending the following assistance:
l Rs
500 crore was made available to the State immediately from the National Calamity
Contingency Fund.
l The
National Calamity Contingency Fund, set up with initial corpus of Rs 500 crore as a result
of the Eleventh Finance Commission recommendations, is being augmented by the imposition
of a 2 per cent surcharge on personal income tax and corporate tax.
l Assistance
will be provided to the State Government under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes for
reconstruction of roads, bridges, power installations, school buildings, public utilities
and other public infrastructure.
l Arrangements
have been tied up with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for obtaining a line of
credit of US $ 800 million. A joint team has already visited Gujarat and substantial
additional funds are expected to be negotiated.
l RBI
has instructed banks to make special arrangements for freezing of recoveries and extension
of new loans on a liberal terms for borrowers in the affected areas.
l The
National Housing Bank and HUDCO have set apart adequate funds for housing reconstruction.
I also propose to allocate a special quota of tax free bonds of the order of Rs 2000 crore
between the two institutions.
l As
was done after the Orissa cyclone, cement and steel used for construction in the Indira
Awas Yojana, by HUDCO and by agencies identified by the State Government, would be exempt
from excise duty.
l The
Government of Gujarat will be enabled to raise funds by floating tax free earthquake
relief bonds which will be open to subscription in Rupees to individuals and others
including Non-Resident Indians through the Reserve Bank of India.
