Coal India advances Technology-led Diversification Across Energy & Minerals (See 'Corp Brief') Digital India RISC-V Grand Challenge under C2S Programme awarded to 3 teams (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Arrangement of funds to enable corporate debtor to clear its liabilities, coupled with transfer of funds from cooperative bank loan account of applicant directly to bank, is not valid loan disbursement under IBC: NCLT (See 'Legal Desk') Vaishnaw highlights ISM 2.0, indigenous design, manufacturing, talent and India's emergence (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - SEBI, acting as statutory market regulator, is duty-bound to issue a reasoned, speaking order when a decision carries serious civil consequences for acquirer, target company & investors: SAT (See 'Legal Desk') An unsuccessful 'success fee' litigation (See CORP EINSICHT) Centre commemorates World Patient Safety Day 2026 at NIHFW (See 'Corp Brief') BIMSTEC Energy Centre organises 5-Day Capacity Building Programme (See 'Corp Brief') Scindia inaugurates Renovated Guna Head Post Office in MP (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - Where material on record discloses need for deeper scrutiny, re-appreciation, review or reconsideration of evidence, leave ought to be granted & the appeal should thereafter be decided on merits: HC (See 'Legal Desk') CCI nod for acquisition of equity of Great White Global by ISAF III Onshore Fund (See 'Corp Brief') From Ink and Ledger to Cloud and Cipher: The Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 2026 - A Critical Appraisal of India's Digital Evidentiary Revolution (See CORP EINSICHT) A&C Act - Question whether particular claim is covered by, or falls outside excepted matters clause of works contract is matter squarely within competence of Arbitral Tribunal u/s 16 of Arbitration and Conciliation Act: SC (See 'Legal Desk') CCI approves acquisition of addl share in Azure Power Global by OMERS Infra (See 'Corp Brief') Beneficiaries express confidence in government policies for e-mobility (See 'Corp Brief') Competition Act - Regulatory decisions taken in exercise of statutory powers not subject to review by CCI; authority concerned is not amenable to scrutiny u/s 4 of Competition Act: CCI (See 'Legal Desk') Semicon 2.0 mission to focus semiconductor design & fabrication; to create 1 lakh jobs (See 'Corp Brief') NLMC to host investor meets ahead of RINL land e-auction (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - Penalty order under SEBI (PFUTP) Regulations unsustainable where foundational findings regarding volume of manually deleted orders & manipulative intent are perverse & contrary to the record: SAT (See 'Legal Desk') Govt reviews Use of Steel from Ship Recycling to Boost Steel Manufacturing (See 'Corp Brief') Inaugural PDUNASS–GNLU Executive Program on Labour Law concludes at Gandhinagar (See 'Corp Brief') Capital Market - Release of escrow amount maintained for buyback does not bar separate inquiry into alleged fraud under PFUTP Regulations: SC (See 'Legal Desk')

Rs 25 Lakh loans, decision in 14 days - Govt moves to enhance credit access for MSMEs

Published: Mar 12, 2025

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, MAR 12, 2025: THE Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as a regulator, provides an enabling framework for Regulated Entities (REs) to cater to the financing needs of various sectors of the economy within the prudential boundaries. Further, credit related matters of REs are largely deregulated and the same are governed by the Board approved loan policies of the REs framed under the ambit of relevant regulatory and statutory requirements and terms and conditions of the loan agreement between the borrower and the RE. Banks have been advised to furnish the MSME borrowers with an indicative checklist of documents required for processing the loan application at the time of applying for the loan. For loans up to Rs.25 lakh to units in the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) borrowers, banks are advised that the timelines for credit decisions shall not be more than 14 working days. Various measures have been taken for increasing access to credit and finance for MSMEs.

These include:

- Specific targets for lending to MSME sector have been prescribed in Priority Sector guidelines dated 4.9.2020.

- SCBs have been mandated not to accept collateral security in the case of loans up to Rs.10 lakh extended to units in the MSE sector.

- Computation of working capital requirements of MSE units to be minimum 20% of the projected annual turnover for borrowal limits up to Rs.5 crore.

- Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) has been operationalized to address the problem of delayed payments to MSMEs.

- Banks have been advised to link interest rates of loans extended to MSMEs to an external benchmark.

- RBI's Account Aggregator (AA) framework and proposed Third Cohort under Regulatory Sandbox (RS) for MSME Lending is expected to spur innovations that can fill the lending gap for MSMEs through the use of technology and data analytics.

- RBI's Unified Lending Interface (ULI) will make credit more accessible to underserved populations.

- GST Sahay App of SIDBI facilitates 'on tap' invoice-based (cash flow based) small value credit to micro enterprises as a paperless journey.

- Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) to register Informal Micro Enterprises (IMEs) i.e. micro enterprises not registered under the GST regime.

- Under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna (PMMY), Government has taken various steps towards effective implementation of the Scheme. These include publicity campaigns, simplification of application form, Credit Guarantee Scheme, nomination of Mudra Nodal Officer, frequent reviews at various levels to monitor the achievement against allocated target, etc. Online platforms like Jansamarth portal provide a quick and efficient way to get loans for individuals and businesses, with approvals based on digital evaluation of the applicant's data.

- PSBLoansin59minutes enables MSMEs to obtain In-principle approval of loans from lenders onboarded on the platform.

- SAMADHAAN Portal launched for monitoring of outstanding dues to the MSEs from the buyers of goods and services xiii. The Government of India has launched various Credit Guarantee schemes for the benefit of MSMEs.

- New Credit Assessment Model based on the scoring of digital footprints of MSMEs developed by PSBs will leverage the digitally fetched and verifiable data available in the ecosystem and devise automated journeys for MSME Loan appraisal using objective decisioning for all loan applications and model-based limit assessment for MSME borrowers.

This information was given by Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha yesterday.

TIOL CORP SEARCH

TIOL GROUP WEBSITES