More than Rs 40,700 crore sanctioned under Stand-Up India Scheme in 7 years

Launched on April 5, 2016, the Stand-Up India Scheme has witnessed more than Rs 40,700 crore sanctioned to over 180,630 accounts.

The scheme aims to promote entrepreneurship at the grassroot level focusing on economic empowerment and job creation and has been extended up to the year 2025.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the scheme has touched numerous lives by ensuring access to hassle-free affordable credit to the unserved/underserved segment of entrepreneurs. She added that the scheme has provided wings to aspiring entrepreneurs to showcase their entrepreneurial acumen and the potential entrepreneurs hold in driving economic growth and building a strong ecosystem by being job creators is immense.

“The scheme has created an ecosystem which facilitates and continues to provide a supportive environment for setting up green field enterprises through access to loans from bank branches of all Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs). The scheme has proved to be an important milestone in promoting entrepreneurship among SC, ST and women,” the Finance Minister said on the 7th anniversary of SUPI Scheme.

Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad said, "Stand-up India scheme is based on the third pillar of National Mission for Financial Inclusion namely “Funding the unfunded” and has ensured availability of seamless credit flow from branches of Schedule Commercial Banks to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. The scheme has been instrumental in improving the standards of living for entrepreneurs, their employees, and their families.”

"It is also a matter of immense pleasure for me that more than 80 per cent of loans given under this scheme have been provided to women,” he added.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide loans for greenfield enterprises in manufacturing, services, or the trading sector and activities allied to agriculture and 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 of scheduled commercial banks.