Amid lockdown, Rs 11,000 crore credit given to more than 25,000 MSME entrepreneurs to revive business

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has ensured credit lending of Rs 11,000 crore from banks in just a month to more than 25,000 MSME entrepreneurs to help them rejuvenate their business at a time when the entire economy has nosedived due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

It has become possible with the state government persistently soliciting members of the bankers' committees in the grassroots level to clear the loans for the MSME sector at the earliest at this critical time. "Rs 11,000 crore was released as a credit to more than 25,000 MSME entrepreneurs in April. It is helping them to fight back when economic activities in the entire country have almost come to a standstill due to the lockdown leading to heavy losses in the MSME sector," said a top brass of the state MSME department adding that the state government had taken the move of urging the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) to ensure fast sanctioning of loans to entrepreneurs from the sector.

Amit Mitra, minister of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles, held a meeting with senior members of the SLBC on May 4 in this connection and a sub-committee was also formed for fast execution of the same in the grassroots level. Subsequent moves gave impetus in speedy disbursement of loans. A target of Rs 90,000 crore has been set that will be disbursed as a loan to the MSME entrepreneurs. At present, there are 2 lakh registered MSME entrepreneurs in Bengal and it has a good share in the state's GDP. Despite lockdown, the Mamata Banerjee government has successfully created more than 30 lakh man-days by engaging the state's MSME sector in preparing PPE kits, masks and hand sanitisers. It has helped in providing work to a large section of the MSME entrepreneurs in the state. The state government has also taken a series of steps to help artisans and "tant" weavers by giving them money as an advance to help them carry on with their work. "So far, around Rs 5 crore has been given as advance through Tantuja, Manjusha and Biswa Bangla. Approximately, around 5,000 artisans and weavers were benefitted for giving this advance. The amount will keep increasing," the official said.