Ajit Karn
According to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, loans totaling approximately Rs 40,600 crore have been granted to 1,8 lakh entrepreneurs under the Stand Up India Scheme.
80 percent of all beneficiaries are women.
On the seventh anniversary of the scheme, Sitharaman noted with pride and gratification that loans totaling over Rs. 40,600 crore had been approved for more than 1.8 million women and SC and ST entrepreneurs.
The Stand Up India Scheme was introduced on 5 April 2016 to promote grassroots entrepreneurship with an emphasis on economic empowerment and job creation. The scheme is valid until 2025.
It facilitates bank loans ranging from Rs10 lakh to Rs100 lakh for at least one Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe borrower and at least one woman borrower per Scheduled Commercial Bank branch. Only green field initiatives, that is, the beneficiary’s first venture, are eligible for loans under this program.
“The scheme has created an ecosystem that facilitates and continues to provide a hospitable environment for the establishment of green field enterprises through access to financing from all Scheduled Commercial Banks’ bank branches. “The Stand-Up India Scheme has proven to be a significant step forward in promoting entrepreneurship among SC, ST, and women,” said Sitharaman.
The minister of finance added that the program has enabled aspiring entrepreneurs to demonstrate their entrepreneurial abilities.
According to Union Minister of State Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad, the Stand-Up India program is founded on the third pillar of the National Mission for Financial Inclusion, which is “Funding the unfunded.”
Also read this:Government erasing Mughal history, China wiping out the present: Owaisi’s barb
“The scheme has ensured that SC/ST and female entrepreneurs have seamless access to credit from Schedule Commercial Bank branches.” The program has been instrumental in raising the living standards of business owners, their employees, and their families,” Karad said.
Karad added, “It gives me great pleasure to note that more than 80 percent of the loans distributed under this program went to women.”
