Banks sanction 50 per cent of targeted Rs 3 lakh crore in liquidity support to MSMEs

New Delhi, Aug 20 (KNN) Banks have sanctioned loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) worth Rs 1,50,759.45 crore under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) till August 18 which is 50 per cent of the targeted amount.  

However, disbursements against this stood at Rs 1,02,245.77 crore, said the Finance Ministry on Thursday in a statement. 

Under the ECLGS, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have sanctioned loans of Rs 76,044.44 crore, out of which Rs 56,483.41 crore has already been disbursed.  Whereas Private Sector Banks have sanctioned loans of Rs 74,715.02 crore out of which Rs 45,762.36 crore has already been disbursed.

The top lenders under the Scheme are State Bank of India (SBI), Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of India, Union Bank of India and HDFC Bank Ltd.

The ECLGS was announced by the government as a part of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package, to mitigate the distress caused by lockdown due to COVID-19 by providing credit to different sectors, especially MSMEs. The government had also launched the subordinate debt scheme last scheme to offer Rs 20,000 crore guarantee cover to 2 lakh MSMEs.

The scheme was introduced to help distressed MSME accounts or NPAs as on April 30, 2020.