MSME Loan: The Government of India has set a target of providing additional MSME loans of Rs 1.54 lakh crore in the current financial year (FY 2024-25) for all scheduled commercial banks and NBFCs. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that banks and NBFCs should target total loan growth for MSMEs at Rs 5.75 lakh crore, Rs 6.21 lakh crore, and Rs 7 lakh crore in FY 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 respectively.

In the 'National MSME Cluster Outreach' program organized in partnership with the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the Union Finance Minister highlighted the importance of MSMEs in innovation, employment generation, and making the country self-reliant.

More work is needed to provide MSME loans.
The Finance Minister also interacted with entrepreneurs and explained how the government and financial institutions are helping them move forward. Sitharaman said that banks need to do more to provide loans to the MSME sector.

Union MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi highlighted the government's initiatives aimed at promoting the MSME sector and urged all banks to focus on providing more loans to small enterprises in rural areas. At the event, Finance Minister Sitharaman also virtually inaugurated six new SIDBI branches in Karnataka. This has expanded SIDBI's reach and financial assistance to MSMEs.

Apart from this, Sitharaman also inaugurated four Nari Shakti branches of Union Bank of India in Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, and Visakhapatnam and Canara Bank's Learning Center in Bengaluru to empower women entrepreneurs. Finance Minister Sitharaman gave loan sanction letters worth Rs 25.75 crore to 11 MSME customers of SIDBI. Along with this, sanction letters worth Rs 11 crore were given to 2 MSME customers of the Nari Shakti branch of the Union Bank of India.