THOOTHUKUDI: The high demand for business loans indicates the robust business climate in the district, said collector Dr K Senthil Raj during the MSME loan facilitation drive 2023-24 held at Kamaraj College on Wednesday. As many as 25 banks and various loan-lending government departments took part in the drive to provide loans to entrepreneurs.
Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi distributed MSME loans to the tune of a whopping Rs 312 crore to as many as 3,145 entrepreneurs in the presence of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Minister Geetha Jeevan, Ottapidaram MLA MC Shanmugaiah, Mayor Jegan Periyasamy and other dignitaries. The parliamentarian also released the Annual Credit Plan (ACP) for the fiscal 2023-24 prepared by the lead bank.
Collector Dr K Senthil Raj said the Thoothukudi district stands next to Tiruppur with regard to the disbursal of such a huge loan amount on a single day. "The increasing demand for business loans in the MSME sector indicates the robust business climate in the district and strongly hints at recovery from the pandemic setbacks. We have successfully lent Rs 3,350 crore as against the target of `3,019 crore set in the ACP 2022-23," he said.
District Industrial Centre General Manager Swarnalatha stated that the potential of the MSME sector, which took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been recovering rapidly. "Thoothukudi is the only district south of Madurai to have a good scope in the MSME sector. The state government prioritised loans for the MSME sector, the backbone of the economy after data showed that the state stood at third place in lending, despite being the third in the number of MSME business units in the country," Swarnalatha told on the sidelines of the meeting.