Banks sanction loans of Rs 1.56 trn to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme

The loan amounts sanctioned by PSBs increased to Rs 76,765 crore, of which Rs 58,230 crore has been disbursed as of August 24, Sitharaman said

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday said banks have sanctioned loans of about Rs 1,55,995 crore under the Rs 3-trillion Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector reeling under the slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, disbursements against this stood at Rs 1,05,926 trillion till August 24.

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), 24 private sector banks and 31 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

"As of 24 Aug 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by #PSBs and private banks stands at Rs 1,55,995.62 crore, of which Rs 1,05,926.99 crore has already been disbursed," the finance minister said in a tweet.

The loan amounts sanctioned by PSBs increased to Rs 76,765 crore, of which Rs 58,230 crore has been disbursed as of August 24, she said.

At the same time, private sector banks have sanctioned Rs 79,230 crore of loans and disbursed Rs 47,696 crore.

"Compared to 18 August 2020, there is an increase of Rs 5,236.17 crore in the cumulative amount of loans sanctioned & an increase of Rs 3,681.22 crore in the cumulative amount of loans disbursed by both #PSBs and private sector banks combined as on 24 Aug, 2020," Sitharaman said.

Market leader SBI has sanctioned Rs 23,864 crore of loans and disbursed Rs 17,599 crore. It is followed by Punjab National Bank, which has sanctioned Rs 10,348 crore. However, its disbursements stood at Rs 7,621 crore as of August 24.

On May 20, 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.