Govt relaxes norms of amended TUF scheme

NEW DELHI: Government today relaxed the guidelines of the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS) with retrospective effect, easing the term loan condition for entrepreneurs.

"Under the modified norms, the entrepreneur will be required to keep the term loan component at a minimum of 50 per cent of the total eligible machinery cost under the project to become eligible for the TUF scheme.

"Earlier, the entrepreneur had to keep the term loan component at a minimum of 50 per cent of the total project cost," a Textile Ministry official told PTI.


Moreover, 20 per cent of the machine cost will be eligible under TUFS for subsidy for accessories/sample machines/ spares received along with machinery "or procured from other manufacturers of the machinery under the project".

Earlier, the provision was not applicable to machinery procured from other manufacturers.

The amendments will be effective from January 13, 2016, when government had notified the A-TUFS which provides one-time capital subsidy for investments in employment and technology-intensive segments of textile sector.

The scheme, which was introduced in place of the Revised Restructured TUFS (RRTUFS), is credit linked and projects for technology upgradation covered by a prescribed limit of term loans sanctioned by the lending agencies will only be eligible for grant of benefits under it.

The ATUFS will be effective for a period of seven years, up to March 31, 2022.