The state Industries and Commerce department has constituted an ECLGS Cell comprising three-member panel. (Representational)
Punjab is targeting to sanction maximum possible loans by July 15 and disbursals by July 31 to eligible micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) rolled out by Centre for the units hit by the Covid-19 lockdown.
The state Industries and Commerce department has constituted an ECLGS Cell comprising three-member panel — Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (PBIP) consultant Tushar Tulsian, State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) manager-cum-nodal officer Naresh Kumar Sharma, and state industries and commerce joint director (Credit) Sarbjit Singh — to coordinate with financing institutions and industrial associations to help MSMEs by providing additional working capital on term loan upto 20 per cent of the outstanding credit without any collateral.
Industries and commerce director C Sibin has written to the deputy commissioners across the state to “convene district level bankers committee (DLBC) meeting and review the same on urgent basis, so as to achieve the target of 100 per cent sanction of loans by July 15 and 100 per cent disbursement of loans by July 31.”
As per official data till June 19, out of total 1.65 lakh eligible MSMEs in Punjab, loans were sanctioned to more than 51000, accounting for 32 per cent of the total eligible units. A loan amount of Rs 656 crore (to 25,570 eligible MSMEs) was disbursed out of the sanctioned amount of Rs 1262 crore (for 51,351 MSMEs).
The overall amount of loan under ECLGS for 1.65 lakh eligible MSMEs in the state has been worked out to be Rs 4845 crore. There are a total of 2.55 lakh MSMEs in Punjab.
For availing the loan under ECGLS, the eligible MSME’s outstanding loan amount should not be more than Rs 25 crore upto February 19, 2020 and turnover not more than Rs 100 crore for 2019-20 fiscal. The maximum tenure of the loan is four years from the date of disbursement with a moratorium of one year on principal amount.
As per the ECGLS statistics in a recent video conference chaired by a Union finance ministry official, where progress was discussed for 19 states and Union Territories, Punjab was at number 5 with Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar, each sanctioning loans to 32 per cent of the total respective eligible MSMEs. The statistics (till June 19) in that video conference, placed Puducherry at top with loan sanctioned to 50 per cent of the eligible accounts, followed by Uttarakhand (44 per cent), Rajasthan (42 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (36 per cent).
An official associated with implementation of ECLGS in Punjab said, “This is a good percentage for Punjab to begin with. The sanctions and disbursements started earlier this month following procedural nods. Also, out of the total eligible, there are those who do not want to avail ECLGS. There are reasons like ones with very little outstanding loan left not opting for it. On our part, we are reaching out to the maximum possible.”