FinMin allows airlines to avail up to Rs 1,500 crore loan under ECLGS

The Union Finance Ministry on Wednesday allowed airlines to avail of up to Rs 1,500 crore loan under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), to help them tide over their cash flow problems.

Earlier, an airline could avail of a loan of not more than Rs 400 crore under the ECLGS. The Centre had in 2020 started the ECLGS to provide collateral-free and government-guaranteed loans to businesses affected by the Covid pandemic.

The Finance Ministry's decision is likely to benefit financially-beleaguered airlines, such as SpiceJet, which have been looking for the Centre’s assistance to run their operations. Last month,