Mudra loans benefit 4.8 cr, meet 85% target so far

The banks have sanctioned loans of Rs 2.5 lakh crore under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana during this fiscal so far as against the disbursement target of Rs 3 lakh crore set for the year, latest finance ministry data up to March 15 showed.

While the government is short of its disbursement target by Rs 50,000 crore, the finance ministry is confident of banks achieving it by month-end.

"The banks should be able to meet the target fixed for loan disbursement for this year. If not, they are likely to finish very close to it. So far, about 85% of the disbursement target has been achieved and the remaining will also be met within the given time frame. The data comes with a certain time lag," a senior official in the finance ministry said.

Under the Mudra scheme, banks provide loans up to Rs 10 lakh to small entrepreneurs. Loans are granted under three categories - Shishu, Kishore and Tarun. Shishu category is up to Rs 50,000, while Kishore is between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh and Tarun between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.

During this year, Mudra loans were sanctioned to 4.8 crore self-employed people. Of these, as many as three crore were women beneficiaries while one crore were new entrepreneurs. Among minorities, 48 lakh people were given these loans.

Of the total amount sanctioned, women received loans of Rs 1 lakh crore and minorities Rs 22,328 crore. As far as new entrepreneurs are concerned, the amount sanctioned to this category was Rs 82,331 crore. The banks sanctioned loans of Rs 25,282 crore and Rs 10,000 crore respectively to small business owners in scheduled caste and scheduled tribe category, while those falling under other backward classes (OBCs) received Rs 51,855 crore under Mudra scheme.

The loan scheme was introduced by the NDA government in April 2015. Since then, the banks have sanctioned loans to the tune of Rs 8.25 lakh crore to over 17 crore entrepreneurs. For the last three years, the disbursement targets have been met. In 2017-18, the disbursement was 104% of the target. In previous years too, the government had overshot its disbursement target.

Mudra loans are collateral free loans given to the non-corporate, non-farm small or micro enterprises by commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), small finance banks, cooperative banks, micro finance institutions and non-banking finance corporations (NBFCs).

A financial institution Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (Mudra) was set up by the government in 2015 with an aim to fund the unfunded.

INCLUSIVE SCHEME 

• This year, Mudra loans were sanctioned to 4.8 crore people
   
• Of these, three crore were women beneficiaries
   
• Among minorities, 48 lakh people were given these loans