The government is taking steps to provide the required credit to the MSME sector even as Rs 42,000 crore have been disbursed under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana alone, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told Lok Sabha.
Around 66 lakh people have benefitted so far from the Yojana under which loans up to Rs 10 lakh are given for enterprises and trades.
“We are putting pressure through the financial system to ensure that targets (with respect to providing credit for MSMEs) are met,” Sinha said in reply to questions.
The Minister said Rs 42,000 crore has been given so far under the Mudra Yojana, which was launched in April this year.
When some members said banks are not extending enough credit to MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), he said there are guidelines in place for extending loans to the sector.
Under the revised priority sector lending guidelines, a target of 7.5 per cent of adjusted net bank credit or credit equivalent amount of off-balance sheet exposure — whichever is higher — has to be lent by the scheduled commercial banks to micro enterprises.
Sinha said over Rs 1 lakh crore worth credit guarantee has been extended under the credit guarantee fund trust for micro and small enterprises as on October 31 this year.
According to the Minister, various coordinating mechanisms are in place at the central, state and district levels with respect to extending credit for the MSME sector.
Image Courtesy: Economic Times.