Banks’ mortgage disbursement to mostly MSMEs under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore given that its roll-out on June 1, while sanctioned credit score stood at over Rs 1.5 lakh crore, the finance ministry stated on Thursday, highlighting the achievement of the program.
Under the ECLGS, announced as part of the government’s Rs 21 lakh-crore relief package in May, the Centre has pledged a complete guarantee for up to 20 percent more, collateral-free working capital loans, subject to an average limit of Rs 3 lakh crore. At the same time, the scheme became initially intended for only MSMEs, the government, earlier this month, determined to loosen up the eligibility criteria to cover professionals and allow a much wider pool of businesses to advantage from it.
Not surprisingly, SBI led the pack of state-run lenders with the disbursement of Rs 17,095 crore, accompanied by Punjab National Bank (Rs 7,197 crore), Canara Bank (Rs 6,556 crore) and bank of Baroda (Rs 5,937 crore).
The ministry also stated, to melt the COVID blows to farmers, 1.22 crore Kisan credit cards had been sanctioned under a special saturation pressure, with a complete credit restriction of Rs 1,02,065 crore.
While announcing the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package, the government had declared a concessional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore, which became predicted to advantage 2.5 crore farmers, which include fishermen and dairy farmers.
No collateral is needed for loans up to Rs 1.6 lakh from SBI. This pressure came as a boost to Kharif sowing, which normally begins from June, with the advent of seasonal monsoon showers.
As for the ECLGS, after expanding its scope in August, the government had anticipated that extra beneficiaries can be sanctioned guaranteed loans of approximately Rs one lakh crore, although there is no evaluation of the scheme’s basic credit limit (Rs 3 lakh crore).
As a part of its extended coverage, companies with an annual turnover limit of as much as Rs 250 crore are now eligible to tap the scheme. Even individuals such as doctors, chartered accountants, lawyers, etc, who desire to take loans for professional purposes, are now covered under the scheme.
Also, eligible businesses with up to Rs 50 crore outstanding as of February 29, instead of Rs 25 crore earlier, can avail of the extra guaranteed loans. The government has earmarked a corpus of Rs 41,600 crore over the current and the subsequent 3 financial years to enforce the ECLGS. As many as 45 lakh units may also benefit from the scheme, in line with a government estimate.
