UP Govt To Launch MSME Loan Mela

The Uttar Pradesh government has plans to launch 'loan melas' for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) next month with an aim to quench credit thirst in MSME.

The mela will offer loans to the MSME under various central and state government schemes, including UP's flagship one district, one product (ODOP) programme, which promotes the indigenous industries and handicrafts.

The melas would be organised at all the 75 districts From December 9th to 27th on different dates according to the schedule to be drawn in consultation with the commercial banks and district officials.

Since, nearly 80 per cent of the country’s MSMEs, especially the micro units, still do not have access to institutional capital and they largely depend upon the unorganised players for meeting their financial needs, the mela is expected to boost the sector for higher growth and job creation.

So far, in UP, the MSMEs accounted for 80 per cent of the state's exports worth Rs 1.14 trillion in 2018-19.

Reportedly, UP MSME and Khadi principal secretary Navneet Sehgal has asked the district magistrates to ensure the success of the ambitious credit outreach initiative.

Apart from complaining that the loaning process was quite cumbersome despite the new guidelines issued by the central regulatory authorities, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also urged the bankers to improve the credit flow to the MSME sector in UP.

The government will take stern action against officials of the laggard districts with regards to credit facilitation to the MSMEs, especially in the Devipatan, Azamgarh, Bareilly, Gorakhpur and Meerut divisions of the state.

Earlier, such 'loan melas' were only orgainised by the public sector banks in phases across 400 districts in India as per the guidelines issued by the department of financial services (DFS).

UP had posted 100 per cent growth in the sector with the total number of units jumping from about 4.4 million in 2015-16 units to 9 million in 2017-18, according to the statistics shared by the MSME export promotion council (MSME EPC) here.