Railways approves Rs 163 Crore Electric Traction Upgradation in South Central Railway (See 'Corp Brief') Govt promotes indigenous Potash Production and Alternative Nutrient Sources (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Personal guarantee expressly drafted as a continuing and irrevocable guarantee does not stand discharged merely because the guarantor resigns as director of the corporate debtor: NCLAT (See 'Legal Desk') CCI approves amalgamation of Go Digit Infoworks with Go Digit General Insurance (See 'Corp Brief') CCI okays acquisition of units of Oaktree capital group by Brookfield Asset Management (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - If IRP is allowed to perform only limited functions during period when CIRP is under substantial judicial restriction, IRP is not automatically entitled to full professional fees at minimum monthly rate: NCLAT (See 'Legal Desk') Amritsar becomes second spoke airport under India's International Aviation Hub Strategy (See 'Corp Brief') RRBs post Highest-Ever Net Profit of Rs. 10,177 Crore in FY 2025-26 (See 'Corp Brief') PMLA - Retention or continued freezing of a person's property cannot be permitted solely or primarily on ground that investigation is ongoing: SAFEMA TRIBUNAL (See 'Legal Desk') NHAI Successfully defends Major Arbitration Case to Safeguard Public Funds (See 'Corp Brief') Companies Act - Coal beneficiation cannot per se be excluded from ambit of manufacturing process to justify quashing of criminal complaint at preliminary stage: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Digital India BHASHINI conducts Multilingual AI Workshop for Haryana Vidhan Sabha (See 'Corp Brief') MISC - RBI, possessing superior expertise in financial administration over cooperative authorities, has independent power to supersede board of a cooperative bank under the Banking Regulation Act - Principles of natural justice do not apply to Section 36AAA of Banking Regulation Act 1949: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Youth Unrest & CJP Agitation: Key Learnings (See CORP EINSICHT) IPR - Patent offices cannot rely on mere hypotheses or hindsight to dismiss technical advancement: HC (See 'Legal Desk') 'Corporate Mitra Scheme' Awareness Webinar Successfully Organized by IICA Shillong (See 'Corp Brief') Rajya Sabha organises Orientation Programme for newly elected Members (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Service of insolvency petition on corporate debtor's registered email address available in MCA records constitutes valid service, if accompanied by attempts at service at registered office and publication in accordance with NCLT Rules: NCLAT (See 'Legal Desk') Coast Guard rescues 170 Persons in Flood Relief Operations across Daman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Prior or parallel proceedings under SARFAESI and before DRT do not bar Section 95 insolvency application: NCLT (See 'Legal Desk') Public Advisory: Beware of Fraudulent Air Suvidha 2.0 Websites (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Liquidation application allowed where corporate debtor is not a going concern, has prima facie nil asset value & where requirements of Section 33 of IBC 2016 are met: NCLT (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