Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has achieved a record in bank lending to the MSME sector during the 2024-25 fiscal. Bank lending this year reached Rs 1.82 lakh crore, surpassing the target of Rs 1.52 lakh crore. The target for fiscal 2024-25 was set at the first meeting of the State Level Banker’s Committee (SLBC) held in June 2024 soon after the Lok Sabha polls. According to a senior Nabanna official in the 2023-24 fiscal, the bank lending was to Rs 1.42 lakh crore slightly higher than the target of Rs 1.40 lakh crore.
As per projections by the Union government, against an investment of Rs 1 crore, 37 people get employed in the MSME sector. Hence the huge lending to the MSME sector will generate more employment which is always being emphasised by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Before Mamata Banerjee assumed power in 2011, the lending by banks was only Rs 8387 crore. Bank lending in MSME takes place in various sectors including agriculture, agri-allied sectors, fisheries, animal resources development, self-help-group, food processing industries, horticulture etc. The government had laid special emphasis on speeding up the disbursement of loans under various schemes mostly the Bhabishyat Credit Card (BCC) project where the pendency was on the higher side till December 2024.. However, a special drive in March this year ensured disbursement of loan against 28,000 applications out of 40,000 sanctioned with the amount being Rs 590 crore.
The BSS is a scheme for young entrepreneurs in the age group 18-55 years offering subsidy-linked and collateral-free loans for setting up new ventures/ projects/ micro enterprises in manufacturing, service and business / trading/ agro-based activities. Eligible applicants can take a business loan of up to 5 lakhs to start a business. Seed money of up to Rs 25000 is provided by the government. The applications were received from April 1, 2023. There are 89 lakh MSMEs in the state that employ over 1.36 crore people. 47.11 per cent of MSMEs are in the manufacturing sector with the employment being 70 lakh.