The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Stand Up India Scheme to promote at least 2.5 lakh scheduled caste, scheduled tribes, and women entrepreneurs through banks.
The Stand Up India Scheme will be a refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount of Rs 10,000 crore.
"The Scheme is intended to facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch, on an average one for each category of entrepreneur.
“It is expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers," an official statement said after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The expected date of reaching the target of at least 2.5 lakh approvals is 36 months from the launch of the Scheme, said the statement. It entails creation of a credit guarantee mechanism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).
Besides, the Scheme will be a handholding support for borrowers both at the pre loan stage and during operations. "This would include increasing their familiarity with factoring services, registration with online platforms and e-market places as well as sessions on best practices and problem solving", the statement said.