Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

30-November-2012 17:55 IST

The following steps have been taken by the Government to ensure easy flow of credit to MSMEs in the country:-

i) Set up CGTMSE in August 2000 to provide guarantee cover to loans extended to MSEs.

ii) SMERA (SME Rating Agency of India) accredited in September 2012 for the purpose of risk weighting, the banks claims for capital adequacy purposes in addition to existing five domestic credit rating agencies.

iii) PM Task Force on MSME targets monitored on a quarterly basis by GOI and RBI.

iv) Banks have been mandated not to accept collateral security in case of loans upto Rs. 10 lakhs extended to MSE units.

v) Lead banks have been advised to operationalize at least one specialized MSE branch in every district.

vi) Banks have been instructed to adopt IBA approved common application forms for loans upto Rs. 25 lakhs.

vii) India Opportunity Venture Fund (IOVF) set up in August 2012 with GOI support of Rs. 2000 crores in FY 2012-13 for enhancing equity support to MSME sector.

viii) SIDBI’s strategy reoriented for addressing the financial & non-financial gaps in the MSME eco-system.

ix) It has been decided to include SIDBI as an eligible borrower for availing of ECB for on-lending to MSME sector.

x) RBI has allocated Rs. 5000 crore to SIDBI in for FY 2012-13 in order to augment the refinance capabilities of SIDBI and stimulating the growth of MSEs.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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DSM/RS/bs

Credit facilitation for MSMEs: expanded guarantee, simplified lending procedures and strengthened institutional funding support. Measures to improve MSME credit flow combine risk mitigation through a central credit guarantee scheme and accreditation of an SME rating agency, procedural simplifications including collateral exemption for small loans, mandated specialized MSE branches and a common loan application form, and institutional funding initiatives comprising an equity support fund, reorientation and eligibility of a refinance institution for external commercial borrowing for on lending, plus targeted central bank allocations to augment refinance capacity.