The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the continuation of the Stand-Up India Scheme for another five years, extending credit guarantee support for women, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) entrepreneurs till March 31, 2031.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Announcing the decision at the Cabinet briefing, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the programme was designed to help SC, ST and women entrepreneurs start their own businesses, had been very successful, and was therefore being continued for another five years.

Under Stand-Up India, eligible entrepreneurs can take loans of above Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 1 crore for greenfield enterprises in manufacturing, services, trading and agriculture-allied activities, as term loans or a combination of term loan and working capital covering up to 85 per cent of the project cost. The guarantee fee has been standardised at 0.5 per cent with no additional risk premium, and the scheme targets an average of two loans per bank branch — one to a woman entrepreneur and one to an SC/ST entrepreneur.

In a parallel decision, the Cabinet continued the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU) under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana till March 31, 2031, with a Rs 5,000-crore corpus. Prime Minister Modi said the corpus would help facilitate over Rs 12.5 lakh crore in Mudra loans over the next five years, with guarantee support for collateral-free loans up to Rs 20 lakh and lower guarantee fees to encourage lending to micro-enterprises.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Launched in April 2016, Stand-Up India has so far facilitated loans to more than 2.75 lakh women, SC and ST entrepreneurs, according to the government. Officials said the extension would improve access to institutional credit for underserved communities, support new enterprises and generate employment.