Rs. 1.61-tn loans sanctioned to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme

The Finance Ministry said banks have sanctioned loans of about Rs. 1,61,017 crore under the Rs. 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector reeling under the slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, disbursements against this stood at Rs. 1,13,713 lakh crore till September 3.

The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs. 20-lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May to mitigate the distress caused by lockdown due to COVID-19 by providing credit to different sectors, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The latest numbers on ECLGS, as released by the finance ministry, comprise disbursements by all 12 public sector banks (PSBs), 24 private sector banks and 31 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).