7.45 crore small businesses get loans under Mudra Yojana: Shah

As part of government's effort to fund the unfunded, more than 7.45 crore entrepreneurs have been given bank loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, BJP President Amit Shah said.
Easy loans have been provided to small businesses like barber shop owners, cobblers and cycle mechanics etc under Mudra Yojana, he told PTI in an interaction.
"More than 7.45 crore small entrepreneurs received loans worth more than Rs 3.17 lakh crore. Of this, 70 per cent of the beneficiaries are women," he said.
About 18 per cent of the borrowers are from the scheduled caste category, 4.5 per cent from the scheduled tribe category, while other backward class accounted for almost 34 per cent of the borrowers.

Under the Mudra Yojana, a loan of up to Rs 50,000 is given under 'Shishu' plan, between Rs 50,000 to 5 lakh under 'Kishore', and between 5 lakh to 10 lakh under 'Tarun'.
Banks have sanctioned more than 22,000 applications worth Rs 4,699 crore under 'Stand Up India', he said while listing three-year achievements of the Narendra Modi government.

The scheme facilitates bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one scheduled caste/scheduled tribe borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up greenfield enterprises.
Talking about other social security schemes, he said Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) has benefited more than 16 crore since its launch in 2015 while Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), a low premium life insurance scheme, has covered over 3 crore.

With regard to pension scheme, he said, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has covered 38.23 lakh individuals and disbursed Rs 1,344 crore.
The subscribers base under the APY has reached about 53 lakh, he said, adding, 235 banks and the Department of Post are involved with the implementation of the scheme at present.
Besides, the branches of banks and CBS-enabled offices of the India Post, quite a few lenders are sourcing subscribers through their internet banking portals in a paperless environment, he said.
The APY became operational from June 1, 2015 and is available to all Indian citizens in the age group of 18 -40 years. Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a guaranteed pension in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5000 per month, depending upon his contribution, from the age of 60 years.

Under the Ujjwala Yojana, more than 2 crore women from BPL families have been given LPG connections and the target is five crore by 2019, he said.
As far as the power sector is concerned, Shah said, nearly 13,500 dark villages electrified out of a target of 18,456.
As much as 47,447 km road has been constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana as compared to 36,449 km.
The Direct benefit transfer (DBT) has led to savings of over Rs 50,000 crore in the last three years, he said, adding 92 schemes have already covered under the DBT.