Mumbai, Jun 4 (IANS): The on-tap liquidity window of contact-intensive sectors including travel and tourism, hotels, parlours and event organisers, announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will be operational from Monday.

The facility will be open till March 31, 2022, said an RBI statement.

In its statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies on Friday, the central bank announced to open a separate liquidity window of Rs 15,000 crore with tenors of up to three years at the repo rate till March 31, 2022 for certain contact-intensive sectors.

The sectors are hotels and restaurants; tourism - travel agents, tour operators and adventure/heritage facilities; aviation ancillary services - ground handling and supply chain; and other services that include private bus operators, car repair services, rent-a-car service providers, event/conference organisers, spa clinics, and beauty parlours/saloons.

All banks eligible under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) can participate in the scheme.

Requests from banks desirous of availing funds from the RBI will be subject to availability of funds as on the date of application and funds cannot be guaranteed in case the total amount of Rs 15,000 crore is already availed.

As per RBI guidelines, banks should endeavour to lend within a reasonable period - not later than 30 days from the date of availing the funds from the RBI.

There is no tenor restriction regarding lending by banks under the scheme. However, the banks will have to ensure that the amount borrowed from the RBI should at all times be backed by lending to the specified sectors till maturity of the scheme.

Further, banks desirous of deploying their own resources without availing funds from the RBI under the scheme for lending to the specified segments will also be eligible for the incentive.