MSME Minister Narayan Rane said that the government has provided with guarantee support amounting to Rs 1.65 lakh crore to 1.09 crore MSME borrowers under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). ECLGS was announced as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package 2020 with an aim to help MSMEs/small businesses meet their operational liabilities and resume business in view of the distress caused by the pandemic.
Under the scheme, MLIs (Member Lending Institutions) are provided a 100 percent guarantee against any losses suffered due to non-repayment of ECLGS funding by borrowers. The overall cap of admissible guarantee of ECLGS was raised from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 4.5 lakh crore on June 28, 2021.
The government has announced that MSME dues should be cleared by government agencies and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) within 45 days. Since May 2020 and up to July 26, 2021, pending payments of Rs 55,863.30 crore have been made to MSMEs.
