The Union Cabinet on 1st June approved the plan for implementing the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and street vendor packages that were announced last month as a part of the ₹20 trillion economic stimuli. It was the first meeting of the Union Cabinet after the Central Government set into its second year in office.
During the meeting, historic decisions were taken that will have a major impact on the lives of India’s MSME sector, hardworking farmers and those working as street vendors. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a ₹50,000 crore equity infusion into MSMEs through Fund of Funds, and an extra ₹20,000 crores for a distressed asset fund for the sector. This will help MSMEs in managing the debt-equity ratio and in their capacity augmentation. This will also provide a chance to urge listed available stock exchanges. More than 6 crore MSMEs have an important role to play in building a stronger and self-reliant India.
The other decisions taken were approving a loan facility of Rs10,000 each for 5 million street vendors to help them revive their businesses. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched a Special Micro-Credit Facility Scheme – PM SVANidhi – PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi, to supply affordable loans to street vendors. This scheme will go an extended way in enabling them to resume work and earn livelihoods. Over 50 lakh people are likely to benefit from this scheme.
During this COVID-19 these people have faced a lot of problems and hence there is an urgent need to provide affordable credit to them. Street vendors can assist the working capital loan of up to ₹10,000 which is repayable in monthly installments over one year. On timely or premature repayment, an interest subsidy of 7% once a year is going to be credited to bank accounts of beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer on a six-month basis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched the CHAMPIONS portal “Creation & Harmonious Application of Modern Process for Increasing the Output and National Strength”. The CHAMPION portal will help the smaller units to solve their grievances and will help in encouraging and supporting them. The government has pitched for a replacement for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, or self-reliant India because it aspires to play a bigger role in global supply chains.
