NEW DELHI: Despite so much push by the government to disburse credit to small industries, so far Rs 2.82 lakh crore of loans have been sanctioned under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).
"As informed by DFS, as on November 19, 2021, Rs 2.82 lakh crore of loans have been sanctioned under the scheme," MSME Minister Narayan Rane on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the scheme as the Covid relief measure to small industries last year, allocating Rs 3 lakh crore for the scheme, apart from the additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore announced in June this year, as a part of Covid relief package for the second wave.
However the disbursal was slow. Government relaxed the criteria of loan disbursal.
For instance, now existing borrowers under ECLGS 1.0 & 2.0 would be eligible for additional credit support of upto 10% of total credit outstanding as on 29.02.2020 or 31.03.2021, whichever is higher.
It also said, businesses who have not availed assistance under ECLGS (ECLGS 1.0 or 2.0), can avail credit support of upto 30% of their credit outstanding as on 31.03.2021 and in some sectors upto 40%.
It also announced an extension of the scheme till 31 March, 2022, as over Rs 1.5 lakh crore remain unused.
The last date of disbursement under the scheme has been extended to June 30, 2022. The ECLGS is under the domain of the Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services (DFS).