New Delhi, Dec 29 (KNN) Under the '59 minutes' loan scheme launched by the government in November, public sector banks have approved more than 1.12 lakh loan applications of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs)  totaling Rs 37,412 crore

Out of over 1.31 lakh applications, the state-owned banks have accorded in-principal approval to 1.12 lakh applicants, said Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance.

He said this in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, giving details about the progress of the scheme.

He further said that sanctions have been made in respect of 40,669 cases totalling Rs 14,088.32 crore.

The government and the Reserve Bank have taken several steps to ensure access of credit to MSME sector, said Shukla.

GST registered MSMEs can take loan up to Rs 1 crore in just 59 minutes through 'psbloansin59minutes.com' portal.