Goa, July 14 (KNN) The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Goa is urging the MSMEs in the state to make full use of the Goa Credit Guarantee scheme by availing loans to expand their businesses.

The state government on Thursday signed an MoU with the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for MSMEs to offer enhanced credit facilities to MSMEs in Goa under the Goa Credit Guarantee Scheme. The scheme will provide an increased collateral-free loan from the earlier limit of Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore.

Speaking about the initiative taken by the state government to ease the access to funds for industries, CII Goa chairman Anirudh Agrawal said, ““The lack of adequate and timely access to finance is the biggest challenge for the MSME sector and has constrained its growth.”

“The MoU, if implemented effectively, will not only facilitate an increase in credit offtake in the MSME sector and reduce risk of lending institutions but will also support employment generation and reduce the regional imbalance,” he said.

The industry body pointed out that the faster access to loans will not only benefit industries but will also create jobs for locals.

“MSMEs look towards financial institutions to ease the cost of doing business, however, struggle to get the funds mainly because of their limited ability to provide security against the required finance,” he said.

The state government also signed two more MoUs to strengthen MSMEs in the state and enable digital payments in government departments. (KNN Bureau)