State meets 77% of its bank lending target for MSMEs

Kolkata: The state government has already achieved 77 per cent of the total target of Rs 1.53 lakh crore lending by the banks for the MSME units across the state in the 2024-25 financial year.

The target was set in the first State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting after the Lok Sabha polls in June. “The state had set a target of 1.40 lakh crore lending by the banks for the 2023-23 fiscal but surpassed its target by achieving to the tune of Rs 1.42 lakh crore. This year too we are well poised to achieve more than our target,” said Amit Mitra, principal chief adviser to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Finance department on the sidelines of an event ‘Rising Asia – The Bengal Pivot to the East’ organised by Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I)

on Friday. As per projections by the Union government, against an investment of Rs 1 crore, 37 people get employed in the MSME sector. Hence, the huge lending to the MSME sector will generate more employment. Before Mamata government assumed power in 2011, the lending by banks was only Rs 8,387 crore.

Bank lending in MSME takes place in various sectors that includes agriculture, agri-allied sectors, fisheries, Self-Help-Group (SHG), etc. There are 89 lakh MSMEs in Bengal that employ over 1.36 crore people. The target lending to the SHGs for the 2024-25 financial year was set at Rs 30000 crore.