You Woke Up Very Late: BJP's SG Suryah To CM Stalin On His Letter To FM Nirmala Sitharaman Seeking Moratorium On Loans Due To Cyclone Michaung

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) regarding a letter written by Chief Minister MK Stalin to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking a moratorium on loan repayment by MSMEs and small businesses, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state secretary SG Suryah stated that Chief Minister Stalin had woken up very late as the BJP had already raised the issue with her on 13 December at a meeting in Parliament House.

He wrote, "Respected Chief Minister @CMOTamilnadu, This request is already placed yesterday to the Union Finance Minister as advised by @BJP4TamilNadu President @annamalai_k in person at the Parliament House. Very surprising you woke up very late on very important issue. Disappointed."

In his letter, dated 14 December, Chief Minister Stalin wrote, "...Small businessmen, traders and MSME units impacted by the floods are yet to return to their regular economic activities. Many of these families and business entities have availed loans for various purposes and would be finding it impossible to repay their dues in these difficult circumstances. There is an urgent need to mitigate the burden of immediate debt servicing by relaxing repayment schedules till they come out of this crisis.

"Therefore, I kindly request your urgent intervention to direct all commercial banks (including regional rural banks, small finance banks and local area banks), co-operative banks, All-India Financial Institutions and Non-banking Financial Companies (including housing finance companies) to issue a moratorium for a period of 3 months from 1st December, 2023 to 29th February 2024 on payment of all instalments in respect of all term loans (including agricultural term loans, retail and crop loans) availed by families and business units in these four districts.

"The repayment schedule and all subsequent due dates, as well as the tenor for such loans may be shifted across the board by three months. With respect to working capital facilities sanctioned in the form of cash credit/overdraft, the lending institutions may be permitted to allow a deferment of three months on payment of interest on all such facilities outstanding as on 1st December, 2023.

"Considering the urgency of the issue, I request your personal intervention in this regard and issue immediate directions to ease the repayment burden on the affected people."

In a post regarding the meeting, the Ministry of Finance stated that a delegation from the Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturing Association had met Sitharaman and other officials. Suryah too was present in the meeting.

Further, it stated that public sector general insurance companies had been asked to ensure speedy disbursal of claims and deploy more surveyors. A special camp would be held from 20 December for this purpose.

Ambattur was one of the areas in Chennai that was adversely affected by flooding and waterlogging due to cyclone Michaung. Milk supply in the city was affected due to flooding in an Aavin milk processing plant, located in the area.