Govt’s ULI Platform Targets Easier Credit Access For MSMEs

New Delhi, Jun 24 (KNN) In a significant step toward easing credit access for India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held a review meeting on June 23 to assess the progress of the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) platform. 

Finance Secretary Ajay Seth and RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar—who co-chair oversight of the platform—were scheduled to attend the meeting, according to a government source cited by Moneycontrol.

The need to fast-track the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) comes amid persistent credit bottlenecks for MSMEs, which contribute nearly 30 percent to India’s GDP but continue to face delays and rejections due to insufficient collateral and complex documentation.

“The Unified Lending Interface will help MSMEs get credit faster from banks and other lending institutions. The time taken to verify documents of properties and other assets will be reduced considerably, or even made real-time,” said Rakesh Chhabra, Vice President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME).

“It can become more beneficial in the coming time when all audited balance sheets and other relevant documents required by bankers are also uploaded on the portal.”

The ULI platform has integrated several critical data sources, including digital land records from state governments, GST filings that indicate business income, and milk procurement data from cooperatives to evaluate dairy farmers' earnings.

It also utilises satellite imagery for land and property assessment and provides instant verification of Aadhaar and PAN details, access to bank account information, and retrieval of documents from DigiLocker.

Additionally, ULI draws on property-related records to aid in home loan evaluations and interfaces with government-backed credit guarantee schemes for small enterprises.

As a digital public infrastructure, ULI is designed to streamline and expedite loan disbursements for MSMEs by allowing real-time verification of borrower credentials and documentation.

By aggregating diverse data sources—including land records, financial statements, and GST returns—into a single interface, ULI offers seamless access to both banks and non-banking financial institutions.

(KNN Bureau)