Banks have sanctioned more than Rs 75,000 crore loans so far under the Rs three lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector reeling under stress due to COVID-19 lockdown.
However, loans to the tune of Rs 32,894.86 crore are disbursed under the 100 percent ECLGS for MSMEs starting 1 June 2020.
The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs 20 lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May 2020.
The total amount sanctioned under 100 percent ECLGS by PSBs and private banks stood at Rs 75,426.39 crore, of which Rs 32,894.86 crore has already been disbursed.
The number released by the Finance Ministry comprises all 12 public sector banks (PSBs) and 16 private sector banks. Under ECLGS, the loan amounts sanctioned by Public Sector Banks grew to Rs 42,739.12 crore, of which Rs 22,197.54 crore has been disbursed.
The private sector banks have sanctioned Rs 32,687.27 crore while it has disbursed Rs 10,697.33 crore so far.
RBI has noted that the lending institutions must assign zero percent risk weight on the credit facilities extended under ECLGS to MSME borrowers.
On 21 May 2020, the Cabinet had approved additional funding of up to Rs three lakh crore at a concessional rate of 9.25 percent through ECLGS for the 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 three 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.
A corpus of Rs 41,600 crore has been provided 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 31 October 2020 or till an amount of Rs three lakh crore is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.
All MSME borrower accounts with an outstanding credit of up to Rs 25 crore as on 29 February 2020, which were less than or equal to 60 days past due as on that date i.e. regular, SMA-0 and SMA-1 accounts, and with an annual turnover of up to Rs 100 crore, will be eligible for GECL funding under the scheme.