Tag: MSMEs

Categories
MSME

Credit Guarantee Scheme: Banks Sanction Rs 1.86 Lakh Cr to 50 Lakh MSMEs Impacted by Slowdown Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

New Delhi, October 17: The Finance Ministry announced that banks have sanctioned loans of about Rs 1.86 lakh crore to 50 lakh business units under the Rs 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector, those who have been affected by a slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a report by PTI, over 27 lakh MSME units have received about Rs 1,32,246 crore till September 29.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme is part of the fiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package that was announced to lessen the stress caused by the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic.

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 lakh crore is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.

Categories
MSME

ECLGS for MSMEs: Banks Sanction Rs 1.87 Lakh Cr to 50.7 Lakh Business Units Under Credit Guarantee Scheme

Money (Photo Credits: Unsplash)

New Delhi, October 10: In a bid to help the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector, which has been the worst-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Finance Ministry announced that banks have sanctioned loans of about Rs 1,87,579 crore to 50.7 lakh business units under the Rs 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector. Reports inform that of the 50.7 lakh business units, about 27 lakh MSME units received cumulative disbursement of Rs 1,36,140 crore till October 5.

The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May 2020 to mitigate the distress caused by lockdown due to COVID-19 by providing credit to different sectors, especially MSMEs. As released by the Finance Ministry, the latest numbers on ECLGS comprise disbursements by all 12 public sector banks (PSBs), 24 private sector banks and 31 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

“As of 5 Oct 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by PSBs, private banks & NBFCs to MSMEs and individuals stands at Rs 1,87,579 cr, of which Rs 1,36,140 cr has already been disbursed,” the finance minister said in a tweet. The loan amounts sanctioned by PSBs increased to Rs 81,648.82 crore, of which Rs 68,814.43 crore has been disbursed as of October 5, Sitharaman further added. At the same time, private sector banks have sanctioned Rs 86,576 crore of loans and disbursed Rs 59,740 crore, while NBFCs sanctioned Rs 3,032 crore with disbursement of Rs 2,227 crore.

“The ambit of the Scheme was expanded to include MSMEs with turnover of up to Rs 250 crore & individuals for business purposes. As of 05 Oct 2020, Rs 17,460 crore of loans to individuals have been sanctioned, of which Rs 5,939 crore has been disbursed,” she in a tweet. In another tweet, Sitharaman said as many as 33 stranded housing projects with investment of Rs 4,197 crore were accorded final approval under the SWAMIH scheme. “Special window for Affordable & Mid Income Housing Fund (SWAMIH) is working at a fast pace to provide relief to homeowners. As on 05.10.2020, 33 projects with investment of Rs 4,197 cr accorded final approval & will lead to completion of 25,048 home units,” the finance minister said in tweet.

The overall, 123 projects have now been sanctioned, including final approval to 33 projects, with an investment of Rs 12,079 crore that would target to provide relief to 81,308 homeowners, she said. On May 20, the Cabinet approved additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore at a concessional rate of 9.25 per cent through ECLGS for MSME sector.

Under the scheme, 100 percent guarantee coverage will be provided by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) borrowers in the form of a guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) facility. According to a report by PTI, 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 lakh crore is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.

Categories
MSME

MSMEs Take Centre Stage This Festive Season 2020 as Over 1 Lakh Local Shops, Kiranas And Neighbourhood Stores Gear Up to Sell on Amazon

Amazon (Photo Credits: Twitter)

Bangalore, October 5: As India gets ready for the festive season, Amazon India on Sunday said that more than 1 lakh “Amazon-enabled” local shops, kiranas and neighbourhood stores will be serving customers this year. The company further mentioned that over 20,000 offline retailers, kiranas and local shops will be participating for the first time in the company’s biggest annual sale Great Indian Festival.

“This festive season we are focused on helping our sellers and other MSME partners grow their business and bounce back from the recent challenges…The integration of Amazon’s programs with 100,000+ ubiquitous neighbourhood stores – for selling online, to help customers buy online, to make deliveries and enable contactless payments – is a testament of the adaptability and inventiveness of Indian entrepreneurs,” said Manish Tiwary, VP – Amazon India.

The programme is among a string of initiatives by Amazon such as Amazon Easy (to help local entrepreneurs set up stores), I Have Space (for Kirana stores with additional storage space for Amazon packages and sufficient manpower to deliver them in two-three km radius of their stores), Amazon Pay Smart Stores (to enable digital storefront, contactless payments, and reward coupons to customers) etc., catering to micro and small business sellers.

Recently, digital payments startup for merchants BharatPe said that it is gearing up for loan disbursals ahead of the festive season as it expects MSME sector to revive soon. Even though we are in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and the total cases continue to rise

Categories
E-Commerce MSME

Flipkart Wholesale Expands Operations to 12 New Cities to Help Digitally Transform Retails, Kiranas, MSMEs

Flipkart. (Photo Credit: Twitter/@Flipkart)
Flipkart. (Photo Credit: Twitter/@Flipkart)

Bengaluru, September 25: E-Commerce firm Flipkart Wholesale on Thursday said that it expanded its operations to 12 new cities ahead of the festive season. With this, now the Flipkart will be operational in Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Mysuru, Chandigarh Tricity, Meerut, Agra, Jaipur, Thane-Bhiwandi-Ulhasnagar, Greater Mumbai, Vasai-Virar-Mira-Bhayanadar, Thane (Kalyan-Dombivli) and Thane (Navi Mumbai).

With an aim to digitally transform kiranas and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to help them grow faster, Flipkart is mulling to expand the fashion category in these cities. The e-commerce firm is also looking forward to retaining their customers and improve their profitability.

Issuing a statement, Senior Vice President and Head – Flipkart Wholesale — Adarsh Menon — said, “As we enter the festive season, we are excited to be scaling up our offerings across 12 cities, aiming to create more opportunities for MSMEs and Kiranas.” Adding more, he said, “From trendy Jaipuri Kurtis to evergreen Mysuru silk saris, we aim to help small businesses embrace the digital transformation and emerge as more robust businesses.”

Apart from retail, Flipkart Wholesale is also planning to expand into categories such as home and kitchen, and grocery. Through its expansion, Flipkart Wholesale claims customers will have access to easy credit facilities in partnership with leading banks and non-banking financial companies to manage cash flow. Earlier in September, Flipkart had launched Flipkart Wholesale’s operations and stated that the platform was available for fashion retailers, especially footwear and apparel, in Gurugram, Delhi and Bengaluru.

Categories
MSME Startup

NTPC Power Plants to Offer Lands for Industrial Parks of MSMEs Under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ Initiative

NTPC power plant. (Photo Credit: Facebook)
NTPC power plant. (Photo Credit: Facebook)

New Delhi, September 22: With an aim to boost to the government’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives, National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has thrown open a vast land bank within its power plants to Indian firms willing to set up industrial parks and manufacturing facilities.

The country’s largest power producer has also invited expression of interest (EoI) from companies and MSMEs for setting up energy-intensive manufacturing plants. The plants for which the EoI has been issued include bulk chemicals, geopolymer, cooling & heating solutions, aluminium, mineral processing (ceramics, tiles, pottery, brick, glass etc), metallurgical and metal industries (foundries, forging, alloys, heat treatment, steel rerolling, etc).

The NTPC in its statement had stated that the pilots would be set up in the NTPC Thermal Power plants at Solapur (Maharashtra), Kudgi (Karnataka) and Gadarwara (Madhya Pradesh). Adding more, the company statement said, “These industrial parks will be subjected to requisite approvals from respective state and central government. NTPC will process these approvals based on responses received in the EoI.”

Apart from this, NTPC’s power plants across the country have evolved into economic centres with robust infrastructure system in place. With this, NOTC is exploring ideas to improve utilisation of land within its plant locations for enhancing economic activity.

NTPC, though it initiatives, will also provide reliable electricity supply at competitive prices to industrial parks. Along with this, adequate water supply, accessibility through road and rail network, robust connectivity with internet lease lines, accessibility to the township, medical facilities and the local market would also be provided to the SMEs. However, NTPC will enter into a separate agreement with prospective entities for allotment of spaces.

Categories
MSME Startup

Comprehensive Space Act to Help Start-Ups to Make Rockets, Launch Vehicles For ISRO Soon, Says K Sivan

ISRO's rocket launch. (Photo Credit: Facebook/ISRO)
ISRO's rocket launch. (Photo Credit: Facebook/ISRO)

Chennai, September 16: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and Department of Space (DoS) Secretary K Sivan on Tuesday said that the Union government will come out with a policy for launch vehicles and rockets, space exploration and a comprehensive Space Act. The new policy will help several space sector start-ups that are coming up in the country for making rockets, satellites and others.

Speaking at the international space conference and exhibition titled ‘Ushering the new era in Indian Space Sector’, Sivan said that the insurance sector can also get into this important field once the policies and law are in place.

Sivan also said that a comprehensive Space Act and various policies are in the pipeline while he was elaborating on the legal and policy framework that is being planned with the government to open up the space sector for private players. However, the ISRO chief said the government will govern the space activities through policies for every line of activity and the Space Act. With this, the insurance sector can get a way out in the space sector.

Stressing on plans to encourage start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the space sector, Sivan said the DoS through the Space Enterprise Encouragement and Development (SEED) scheme will support them to take up innovation, research and product development and services for ISRO.

The exhibition was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with ISRO, Antrix Corporation Limited and was supported by NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

Categories
Finance MSME

Indian Banks Have Sanctioned Rs 1.63 Lakh Crore Loans to MSMEs Under ECLGS, Says Finance Ministry

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (Photo Credit: PIB)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (Photo Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, September 13: The Union Finance Ministry on Sunday said that Indian banks have sanctioned loans worth over Rs 1.63 lakh crore to MSMEs and other eligible businesses so far. These loans have been sanctioned under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for over 42 lakh borrowers and till now over Rs 1.18 lakh crore has been disbursed, the Ministry added.

Informing about the sanctioned status, the Union Finance Ministry took said in a statement, “As on 10.09.2020, as reported by Public Sector Banks and top 23 private sector banks, additional credit amounting to Rs 1,63,226.49 crore has been sanctioned to 42,01,576 borrowers. Amount of Rs 1,18,138.64 crore has been disbursed to 25,01,999 borrowers as on 10.09.2020.”

Laying down the progress of the schemes announced under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package in May, the Union Ministry said that around 37 proposals involving an amount of Rs 10,590 crore have been approved under the Rs 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs, housing finance companies and micro-finance institutions till September 11. Adding more, it said, six more applications seeking financing of Rs 783.5 crore are under process.

On the Rs 30,000 crore Additional Emergency Working Capital Funding for farmers through NABARD, the ministry said that as on August 28, 2020, Rs 25,000 crore has been disbursed. The balance amount of Rs 5,000 crore under the Special Liquidity Facility (SLF) has been allocated to NABARD by the RBI for smaller NBFCs and NBFC-MFIs. Also, ANABARD is finalising operational guidelines to roll it out soon.

Apart from this, the Centre said that NABARD has also launched Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee scheme in collaboration with two agencies and banks to help unrated NBFCs and MFIs to get credit from lenders. The mechanism will enhance eligibility of credit by 5-6 times to those small MFIs who do not have any rating.

Among other details, the ministry said that refunds of over Rs 1.01 lakh crore have been issued to more than 27.55 lakh taxpayers between April 1, 2020, and September 8, 2020. Also, income tax refunds of Rs 30,768 crore have been issued in 25,83,507 cases and corporate tax refunds of Rs 70,540 crore have been issued in 1,71,155 cases. The ministry said that all corporate tax refunds up to Rs 50 crore have been issued in all cases.

Categories
E-Commerce Finance MSME

Khadi’s E-Market Portal Empowers Local Artisans Through ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ Initiative, Sells Their Products to Remotest Parts of India

Khadi's E-Market Portal
Khadi's E-Market Portal.

New Delhi, September 9: With just two months of launching the KVIC E-Portal, Khadi and Village Industry Commission’s (KVIC) venture into the online marketing segment has quickly established a pan-India reach. The portal — www.kviconline.gov.in/khadimask/ — has enabled the artisans to sell their products to the remotest parts of India. Currently, the KVIC E-Portal sells over 180 products and many more are in the pipeline.

Aiming to appeal Indians go ‘Vocal for Local’, KVIC has a list of products range including hand-spun and hand-woven fine fabric like Muslin, Silk, Denim and Cotton, Unisex Vichar Vastra by Ritu Beri, Khadi’s Signature Wrist Watch, a variety of honey, Herbal and Green Tea, Herbal Medicines and Soaps, Papad, Kacchi Ghani Mustard Oil and a range of herbal cosmetics among many others.

Apart from this, KVIC is adding at least 10 new products to its online inventory on a daily basis, setting its target to add at least 1000 products by October 2, 2020. Union government stated that KVIC had served nearly 4000 customers in just two months. The product range is priced from Rs 50 to Rs 5000, keeping in view the choice and affordability of all sections of buyers.

Elaborating the aim of KVIC’s E-Portal, its chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said the online sale of Khadi products is a big push to ‘Swadeshi’ and aims at empowering the local artisans. He added, “Khadi’s E-market portal is providing our artisans with an additional platform to sell their goods. This is a concrete step towards the building of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

Adding more, he said, “Earlier products of Khadi institutions were sold only through outlets and hence their visibility was confined to a few states only. However, with KVIC’s E-portal, products are now reaching to the far-flung areas of the country and thus giving wider marketing spectrum to Khadi institutions which will ultimately increase their production and add to the income of artisans.”

The government claims that KVIC has received online orders from 31 States and Union Territories that include the far-flung Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. For the ease of customers, KVIC has fixed the minimum order value at Rs 599 for free delivery of goods. It has also entered into an agreement with the Postal Department for delivery of consignments via Speed Post.

Among the variety of products that KVIC sells also includes Modi Kurta and Modi Jackets for men and palazzo and straight trousers for women. Other products like — Khadi Rumal, spices, herbal neem wood comb, shampoo, cosmetics, cow dung and cow urine soap, yoga dress and several varieties of ready-to-eat food — have been included so far.

Categories
Finance MSME

Finance Ministry Sanctions Rs 1.61 Lakh Crore Worth of Bank Loans to MSMEs Under ECLGS to Battle COVID-19 Pandemic

Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman, with other Finance Ministry officials. (Photo Credit: PIB)
Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman, with other Finance Ministry officials. (Photo Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, September 8: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced that the Central government had so far sanctioned loans amounting to Rs 1.61 lakh crore to MSMEs under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). The amount has been sanctioned as a component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Self-Reliant India Mission package, announced by FM Sitharaman in May 2020 for firms to tackle the economic effect of COVID-19 pandemic.

Informing about the update, the Union Finance Minister took to Twitter and wrote, “As of 03 Sept 2020, the total amount sanctioned under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by #PSBs and private banks stand at Rs 1,61,017.68 crore, of which Rs 1,13,713.15 crore has already been disbursed.”

Adding more, Sitharaman wrote, “Compared to 24 Aug 2020, there is an increase of Rs 5,022.06 crore in the cumulative amount of loans sanctioned & an increase of Rs 7,786.16 crore in the cumulative amount of loans disbursed by both #PSBs and private sector banks combined as on 03 Sept 2020.”

Here’s what the Finance Minister’s office tweeted:

Among other details, the Finance Minister said that public sector banks have so far sanctioned Rs 78,067.21 crore under the ECLG scheme, and Rs 62,025.79 crore has been disbursed as of September 3, 2020. She added that the Union Finance Ministry regularly held review meetings with the banks to ensure that the scheme achieves its objective of providing adequate liquidity to the MSME segment during the current difficult period.

As per government estimate, the ECLG scheme would benefit more than 30 lakh units of MSMEs and other businesses to restart their businesses after the COVID-19 lockdown. It is to be known that the government had announced its plans for Rs 3 lakh crore as an additional credit to MSMEs and small businesses under Aatma Nirbhar package.

Under the scheme, the loans would be available to units — whose accounts are standard — with up to Rs 25 crore outstanding and turnover of up to Rs 100 crore. However, these firms will not have to provide any guarantee or collateral of their own as it will be 100 per cent guaranteed by the government and a total liquidity of Rs 3 lakh crore to more than 45 lakh MSMEs will be provided.

Categories
Finance

Narendra Modi Govt Clears Payments of Over Rs 6,800 Crore Owed to MSMEs Over Past 3 Months

रुपया
Money

In a bid to help the MSMEs, the Modi Government has been taking a series of measures. The government on Wednesday informed that the Central ministries and PSUs have cleared payments of over Rs 6,800 crore owed to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSEMs) in the last three months. It said almost three-fourths of the monthly dues have been paid during the same month by most of the ministries and CPSEs. The pending amounts are expected to be released in the normal course of business and within 45 days.

The MSME ministry, in a statement, said that “more than Rs 6,800 crore have been paid by the Ministries and CPSEs in the last three months alone”. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as part of AtmaNirbhar Bharat package, had announced that Government entities should make such payments within 45 days. The Ministry of MSME followed up this announcement vigorously and took up the matter with the Central Ministries and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and State Governments. Particularly very active follow up has been done with the Heads of CPSEs.

The MSME Development Act of 2006 provides that such dues should be paid within 45 days. To make the reporting easy, regular and seamless, a dedicated online format has been made for reporting the monthly payments and pendency, the ministry said.

“However, it is seen that MSME suppliers of goods and services do not receive their due payments within stipulated time. Public and private entities do cross this time limit and hence they cause hardship to the MSMEs,” the statement said. According to a government release, the ministry also said close to 4 lakh registrations have already taken place on the Udyam registration portal for MSMEs since the new system was launched in July.