More than 34.42 crore loan accounts amounting to Rs 18.60 lakh crore have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana in the past seven years, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.
"It is noteworthy that more than 34.42 crore loan accounts amounting to Rs 18.60 lakh crore have been opened under the scheme for the creation of income-generating activities," the Finance Minister said at a function organised to celebrate the 7th anniversary of the Scheme.
The scheme was launched on April 8, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing loans up to Rs 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro-enterprises.
"The scheme has helped in creating an enabling environment, particularly for small businesses and has helped generate large-scale employment opportunities at the grassroots level," the Finance Minister said.
More than 68 per cent of the loan accounts have been sanctioned to women and 22 per cent of the loans have been given to new entrepreneurs who had not availed any loan since the inception of the scheme, according to a statement released by the Finance Ministry.
"With 51 per cent of total loans sanctioned so far going to the SC/ST/OBC category, the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana stands for social justice in action and embodies the true spirit of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', Sitharaman said.
Under PMMY scheme, loans are provided up to Rs 10 lakh through Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) viz; Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), Micro Financial Institutions (MFIs), other financial intermediaries, in three categories namely, 'Shishu', 'Kishore' and 'Tarun' which signifies the stage of growth or development and funding needs of the borrowers.
Loan up to Rs 50,000 is categorised under the Shishu category. Loans above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 5 lakh are categorised as Kishore and loan from Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh are categorised as Tarun.
With an objective to promote entrepreneurship among the new generation aspiring youth, it is ensured that more focus is given to Shishu category loans followed by Kishore and Tarun categories, the Finance Ministry said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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