Credit and Finance for MSMEs: SIDBI’s 59-minute loan approval scheme for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), PSB Loans in 59 Minutes, sanctioned only 9,868 loans involving Rs 5,197 crore during the financial year 2021-22, according to the government data analysed. As per MSME Dashboard data, 2,39,751 loans involving Rs. 81,141 crores were sanctioned as of April 1, 2022, up 4.29 per cent from 2,29,883 loans involving Rs 75,944 crore sanctioned as of March 31, 2021.

Likewise, in terms of disbursements, only 8,155 loans amounting to Rs 3,729 crore were disbursed out of sanctioned loans in the last financial year. Disbursements had jumped 3.80 per cent to 2,22,689 involving Rs 65,834 crores from 2,14,534 loans amounting to Rs 62,105 crore, during the said period. 

The scheme’s portal psbloansin59minutes.com enables in-principle bank approval for collateral-free term loans or working capital loans for MSMEs from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 5 crore. Importantly, the credit amount disbursed as of April 1, 2022, was 4 per cent of Rs 16.10 lakh crore total bank credit deployed to the MSMEs sector in February 2022, as per the latest data on sectoral deployment from the Reserve Bank of India. 

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The 59-minute loan approval scheme has partnered with more than 21 public and private lenders including SBI, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IndusInd Bank. While the scheme doesn’t charge any registration fee from borrowers on the portal, MSMEs need to pay Rs 1,000 to receive the in-principle approval for the loan application in case the “borrower’s proposal matches with the products of lenders,” according to the scheme’s FAQ. 

Moreover, the scheme said the time taken for loan disbursement depends on the information and documentation provided by the borrower on the portal and with the bank. “The more accurate the data, the sooner you will get disbursal. generally, post-in-principle approval, the loan is expected to be sanction/disbursed in seven-eight working days.”