Meltdown forces over 1.3 lakh units to seek debt revamp

Under the global credit squeeze, over 1.30 lakh Indian entrepreneurs, mainly in the small and medium sectors, have sought relief from government-owned banks, which have completed corporate debt restructuring worth Rs 14,000 crore till February.

About 1 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) have approached the Union Bank of India for immediate corporate debt restructuring, while the State Bank of India has cleared 26,000 proposals for rescheduling loans, according to information given to the government.

"Till February, SBI has approved 26,000 applications, while Bank of Baroda had approved 3,000 accounts for rescheduling of their loans," MSME Secretary Dinesh Rai told PTI.

After several steps to improve liquidity in the system by the Reserve Bank and the government, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar reviewed the progress of credit flow to industry on April 2.

In his review meeting with heads of the public sector banks, the Cabinet Secretary had said industry and trade should not only be given more credit, there is a strong case for reduction in interest rates also.