SBI Leads Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme in the race of MSME Lending

Country's largest banking institution State Bank of India leads the pack of public sector banks in disbursing emergency loans to the industry and help improve investment climate in the country amidst Covid-19 pandemic.

The bank has cumulatively disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 7,516.64 crore to 66,335 corporate accounts across the country upto June 9. The loans have been disbursed under the the Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) announced by the government for meeting the liquidity needs of the MSME sector in the present crisis.

The SBI's loan disbursal accounts for over 60 per cent of Rs 12,200.65 crore disbursed by 12 PSBs under the scheme upto June 9. The disbursals have picked up pace lately as the amount for MSMEs stood at Rs 599.12 crore just a day back on June 8.

In a tweet, the office of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "As of 9 June 2020, #PSBs have sanctioned loans worth Rs 24,260.65 crore under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, out of which Rs 12,200.65 crore have been disbursed."

As per the Finance Ministry data, loans have been disbursed to 2,80,926 accounts under ECLGS showing that a wide spectrum of industries is taking advantage of the scheme to meet their immediate liquidity needs.

Apart from SBI, Union Bank is India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and Canara Bank have sanctioned over Rs 500 crore worth of loans to the MSME segment. Though disbursal from Central Bank of India is relatively lower at around Rs 394 crore, it has distributed the money to a large number of accounts at over 47,500.

Bulk of the loan sanctions have gone to the industry in the southern states while industrial sectors in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat have also received high quantum of loans from PSBs.

In all PSBs have sanctioned loan under ECLGS to over 5.5 lakh accounts so far while disbursals have been made in case of over 2.80 lakh accounts.

The ECLGS scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Self-Reliant India Mission package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month.