MSME Loan: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the Rs 100 crore loan guarantee scheme announced in this year's budget for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will soon be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval. Outlining the five announcements made in the budget for MSMEs, she said, "The introduction of a special credit guarantee fund to help MSMEs will be very helpful in times of crisis."

Finance Minister said a big thing on the loan guarantee scheme in the MSME cluster contact program

The Union Finance Minister said at the National MSME Cluster Outreach Programme that a loan guarantee scheme of Rs 100 crore will soon be placed before the Cabinet. The scheme providing guarantee will be implemented through the MSME Ministry and banks soon after getting approval from the Cabinet.

Finance Minister said about working capital for MSME

She said, "For a very long time, there has been a complaint that MSMEs get working capital from banks, but they do not get loans for the fixed period, for plant and machinery. Now guarantee will be given under this scheme." Nirmala Sitharaman said that there is no need for any third party guarantee, "The government gives you a guarantee power of Rs 100 crore, then the public sector banks will develop a new credit assessment model." Praising Karnataka for its contribution to the MSME sector, she said that there are 35 lakh MSMEs in the state and they provide 1.65 crore jobs.

Regarding Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the Finance Minister said that SIDBI understands small businessmen. It can meet the loan needs of MSMEs. This is why the presence of SIDBI in MSME clusters will be very beneficial for MSMEs.

Finance Minister chairs review meeting of 10 Regional Rural Banks of Southern Region

Earlier, Sitharaman chaired a meeting here to review the performance of 10 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) of the Southern region, which covers five states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana besides the Union Territory of Puducherry. During the meeting, she urged the Regional Rural Banks to increase loan disbursal under various flagship schemes of the Government of India like Mudra, PM Vishwakarma in collaboration with their sponsor banks.