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- A Reserve Bank of India(RBI) expert committee tasked with reviewing the current framework for the micro,small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has submitted its report.
- The panel has recommended doubling the cap on collateral-free loans to Rs 20 lakh from the current Rs 10 lakh.This will be extended to borrowers falling under the Mudra scheme,self-help groups and MSMEs.
- A collateral free loan means that borrowers do not have to offer any asset or pledge collateral to borrow against.
- The panel’s recommendations have come at a time when the government is contemplating changing the definition of MSMEs.
- According to the 2006 definition (a)manufacturing units with investment below Rs 25 lakh were termed micro (b)those between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 5 crore termed small and (c)from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore medium.
- For service units,the corresponding amounts were up to Rs 10 lakh for micro, Rs 10 lakh-2 crore for small and Rs 2 crore-5 crore for medium enterprises.
- However,the proposed change under a new draft which was approved by the Cabinet but not yet accepted is that annual turnover rather than investment size should be the criterion for such units.
- Under the draft,there would be no difference between a manufacturing and service unit.Micro can be up to Rs 5 crore of turnover,small up to Rs 75 crore and medium up to Rs 250 crore of turnover should be considered.
- The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) was launched on April 8, 2015.It provides loans up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate,non-farm small/micro enterprises
- These loans are given by commercial banks,RRBs,small finance banks, cooperative Banks,MFIs and NBFCs.As of now,Mudra offers three types of loans (a)Shishu (loans up to ₹50,000) (b)Kishor (loans above ₹50,000 and up to ₹5 lakh) and (c)Tarun (loans above ₹5 lakh and up to ₹10 lakh).
