The minister’s office said in a tweet loans of Rs 42,739 crore were sanctioned by public sector banks (PSBs) and Rs 32,687 crore by private lenders.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said banks have sanctioned working capital loans of Rs 75,426 crore under the Rs 3-lakh-crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSMEs, of which Rs 32,895 crore has already been disbursed.

The scheme, under which the government offers full guarantee on up to 20% additional and collateral-free working capital loans, was rolled out from June 1 to soften the blow to MSMEs battered by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Bankers say disbursement is picking up, as the lockdown curbs on the resumption of businesses have been eased over the past three weeks. The data are based on the statements by 16 private banks and all the 12 PSBs.

The minister’s office said in a tweet loans of Rs 42,739 crore were sanctioned by public sector banks (PSBs) and Rs 32,687 crore by private lenders. Similarly, while PSBs have disbursed Rs 22,198 crore, private banks have released Rs 10,697 crore.

The scheme was a major part of the government Rs 21-lakh-crore relief package to help individuals and businesses tide over the impact of the pandemic. The government has earmarked a corpus of Rs 41,600 crore over the current and the next three financial years to implement this loan guarantee scheme.

Borrowers with up to Rs 25 crore outstanding as of February 29 and Rs 100-crore annual turnover will be eligible. Such loans will have a 4-year tenor with moratorium of 12 months on the repayment of the principal amount. The interest rate will be capped at 9.25% a year for banks and financial institutions and 14% for non-financial banking companies.

The scheme can be tapped until October 31 or until the Rs 3-lakh-crore limit is exhausted, whichever is earlier. As many as 45 lakh units can resume business activity and safeguard jobs, the government recently announced.

The scheme also aims at supporting stressed MSME borrowers who are not in default. So, borrowers with standard accounts (with timely repayment), SMA-0 (with overdue of up to 30 days) and SMA-1 (with overdues of up to 60 days) can also take advantage of this scheme.

Interested borrowers under the Mudra scheme, which supports budding entrepreneurs from vulnerable sections of society, will also be covered under the guaranteed emergency credit line.