Banks disburse up to 9,000 cr to MSMEs under stimulus packs

Banks have lent Rs 8,500-9,000 crore to the micro, small and medium enterprises in the last few months as a part of the stimulus packages announced by the government.     

Of Rs 7,000 crore refinance facility extended to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Rs 4,300 crore have already been released to the commercial banks, Secretary in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Dinesh Rai said at an Assocham function here today.     

He said as per the SIDBI stipulation, banks were required to double up the amount released to them. As a result, "About Rs 8,500-9,000 crore has already been released by the banks to MSMEs," Rai said.     

The government had given different stimulus packages to the industry, particularly for the export units, MSMEs and commercial vehicles to limit the impact of the global downturn on their performances.     

Rai said the government would continue to promote MSMEs which contribute 45 per cent of the country's total industrial production.     

The Ministry is about to finalise a Rs 160-crore scheme for making the sector IT-enabled that gives employment to 42 million people.     

"So we have almost finalised Rs 160-crore stimulus IT package for the MSMEs," the Secretary said.