Public sector banks sanction 2,23,501 loans under 59-minute loan approval scheme as of Feb 1

As of February 1, 2021, public sector banks (PSBs) have sanctioned 2,23,501 loans under the 59-minute loan approval scheme that was launched by our Prime Minister in November 2018 to MSMEs, according to the latest data released by the MSME Ministry.

Out of over 2.23 lakh sanctioned loans involving Rs 72,502 crore, 93.6 per cent or 2,09,326 loans involving Rs 59,548 crore have been disbursed as of February 1, this year. This is up from 2,03,120 loans amounting to Rs 56,773 crores disbursed as of November 30, 2020, and 1,96,473 loans amounting to Rs 54,545 crores disbursed as of August 31, 2020.

The scheme was launched to enable in-principle bank approval to a term loan or working capital loan for MSMEs from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore at an interest rate of 8.5 per cent onwards. However, State Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of India had increased the credit limit to Rs 5 crore in July 2019.

The platform is integrated with the government’s Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to check borrower’s eligibility. MSMEs are required to share GST identification number, IT returns, six-month bank statements, and owner’s details.

However, eligibility of raising credit through the portal depended on the revenue, repayment capacity of the business and existing credit facilities as MSMEs which had raised loans earlier under other government schemes can still apply for loans via the 59-minute loan approval scheme.

The latest data was updated on the MSME Dashboard portal by the Ministry.