Public and Private Sectors Banks have so far sanctioned Rs 1,23,345.16 crore under the 3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector till June 15, 2020, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. Of this, Rs 68,311.55 crore has already been disbursed, which will help MSMEs to restart their businesses post the lockdown. The sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
"As of 15 July 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by #PSBs and private banks stand at Rs 1,23,345.16 crore, of which Rs 68,311.55 crore has already been disbursed," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's office said in a tweet on Thursday.
Under the 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan', the government announced collateral-free loans worth Rs 3 lakh crore for MSMEs with turnover up to Rs 100 crore till October 31, 2020. A total of 45 lakh MSMEs are expected to benefit from the scheme.
The information tweeted by the minister's office added that the loan amounts sanctioned by public sector banks has increased to Rs 69,135.19 crore, of which Rs 41,819.19 crore has been disbursed as of July 15, the FinMin said.
Also Read: Rs 1.14 lakh crore sanctioned to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme; SBI, HDFC Bank top lenders
Among the state-owned banks, State Bank of India sanctioned the highest, amounting to Rs 20,910.98 crore, of which Rs 14,362.68 crore has been disbursed.
State-wise, the highest amount has been sanctioned to MSMEs in Maharashtra worth Rs 7,286.86 crore, of which Rs 4,267.83 crore has been disbursed.
"Compared to July 9, 2020, there is an increase of Rs 3,245.79 crore in the cumulative amount of loans sanctioned and an increase of Rs 6,323.65 crore in the cumulative amount of loans disbursed, by both PSBs and private sector banks combined as on July 15, 2020," the ministry said.
Also Read: Over Rs 1,109 cr sanctioned to MSMEs under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme: FinMin
In wake of COVID-19 crisis, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 13 announced the ECLGS scheme to help the MSME businesses by providing them collateral-free loans of up to Rs 3 lakh crore backed by a government guarantee. The loans extended to MSMEs under this scheme by banks and NBFCs would be 100% backed by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).
As per the scheme, all eligible MSMEs, or businesses, get a pre-approved sanction limit of up to 20% of the loan outstanding up to Rs 25 crore as on February 29th, 2020, in the form of additional working capital term loan facility in case of banks and additional term loan in case of NBGCs.
By Chitranjan Kumar