PM Modi to launch scheme for loans to SCs/STs, women on 5 April

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday launch the Stand up India scheme under which banks will give loans of up to ₹ 1 crore to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) and women entrepreneurs. “Prime Minister will be launching the Stand Up India scheme and a web portal for the scheme on 5 April, at Noida,” a finance ministry statement said. The event would be attended by, Uttar Pradesh governor, Union finance minister, Union minister for culture and tourism and Union minister of state for finance, among others.

The Stand up India Scheme is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women by giving loans in the range of ₹ 10 lakh to ₹ 1 crore for setting up a new enterprise. “The scheme is expected to benefit large number of such entrepreneurs, as it is intended to facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch on an average one for each category of entrepreneur,” the statement added.

SCs/STs and women entrepreneurs who avail loan would be given a RuPay Debit Card for withdrawal, besides comprehensive support like pre-loan training, facilitating loan, factoring and marketing. There would be a ₹ 10,000 crore refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) will create a corpus of ₹ 5,000 crore.

The government will create a web portal for online registration and support services and also prepare a credit history of borrowers. “The intent of the proposal is to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to these under-served sectors of the population by facilitating bank loans in the non-farm sector set up by such SC, ST and women borrowers,” the statement said.

During the launch, 5,100 e-rickshaws would be distributed by Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna scheme. In addition, the recipients will also be covered under Pradhan Matri Jan Dhan Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyoti Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana and eight other significant schemes.