Banks sanction Rs 1.14 trn loans to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme

The finance ministry on Tuesday said banks have sanctioned loans of about Rs 1.14 crore under the Rs 3 trillion Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSME sector reeling under the economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, disbursements against this stood at Rs 56,091.18 crore till July 4 under the 100 per cent ECLGS for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs 20-trillion 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May.

The latest numbers on ECLGS, as released by the finance ministry, comprise disbursements by all 12 public sector banks (PSBs), 20 private sector banks and 10 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

"As of 4 July 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by #PSBs and private banks stands at Rs 1.14 crore, of which Rs 56,091.18 crore has already been disbursed," the finance minister said in a tweet.

Under the ECLGS, the loan amounts sanctioned by PSBs increased to Rs 65,863.63 crore, of which Rs 35,575.48 crore has been disbursed as of July 4, she said.

At the same time, private sector banks have sanctioned Rs 48,638.96 crore and disbursed Rs 20,515.70 crore.

"Compared to 1 July 2020, there is an increase of Rs 4,158.51 crore in the cumulative amount of loans sanctioned and an increase of Rs 3,835.65 crore in the cumulative amount of loans disbursed, by both #PSBs and private sector banks combined as on 4 July 2020," Sitharaman said.

Market leader SBI has sanctioned Rs 20,628 crore of loans and disbursed Rs 13,405 crore. It is followed by Punjab National Bank, which has sanctioned Rs 8,689 crore. However, its disbursements stood at Rs 2,595 crore as of July 4.

The business units of Maharashtra have got the highest cumulative sanction of Rs 6,856 crore from banks, while disbursement was to the tune of Rs 3,605 crore as of July 4.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu, with sanction of Rs 6,616 crore loans and disbursements of Rs 3,871 crore.

On May 21, the Cabinet approved additional funding of up to Rs 3-trillion at a concessional rate of 9.25 per cent through ECLGS for MSME sector.

Under the scheme, 100 per cent guarantee coverage will be provided by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs 3 trillion to eligible MSMEs and interested Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) borrowers in the form of a guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) facility.

For this purpose, a corpus of Rs 41,600 crore was set up by the government, spread over the current and next three financial years.

The scheme will be applicable to all loans sanctioned under GECL facility during the period from the date of announcement of the scheme to October 31 or till the amount of Rs 3 trillion is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.

All MSME borrower accounts with an outstanding credit of up to Rs 25 crore as on February 29, which were less than or equal to 60 days past due as on that date, i.e., regular, SMA-0 and SMA-1 accounts, and with an annual turnover of up to Rs 100 crore are eligible for GECL funding under the scheme.