MSME Loans Worth Rs 70,000 Crore Routed Through PSB 59-Minute Scheme

New Delhi, Jan 10 (KNN) The government and SIDBI's 59-minute loan approval scheme for MSMEs has sanctioned 2.48 lakh loans by January 1, 2024, with 2.29 lakh loans already disbursed.

 As of January 1, Rs 85,980 crore loans were sanctioned, and Rs 69,240 crore loans were disbursed since the scheme's launch in November 2018.

Comparatively, by March 1, 2023, the scheme had sanctioned 2.45 lakh loans amounting to Rs 83,938 crore, with 2.26 lakh loans disbursed totalling Rs 67,847 crore.

The scheme provides in-principle bank approval for collateral-free term or working capital loans for MSMEs, ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 5 crore under the CGTMSE program.

Repayment terms vary from one to 15 years, with interest rates from 6.8 per cent to 21 per cent, depending on the MSME's credit and risk profile.

Businesses can also apply for Mudra loans for various purposes. Banks invested Rs 23.36 lakh crore in MSMEs under priority sector lending in November 2023, marking a 21.9 per cent increase from November 2022.

The latest RBI Financial Stability Report in December 2023 notes a further improvement in MSME loan quality.

The MSME gross non-performing assets (GNPA) decreased to 4.7 per cent in September 2023 from 6.8 per cent in March 2023 and 7.7 per cent in September 2022, showing a positive trend from the 9.3 per cent GNPA ratio in March 2022.

(KNN Bureau)