SHILLONG: More than 90 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state have received loan under the special scheme recently announced by the Centre to help small firms cope with the economic downturn, said a senior official of State Bank of India in Shillong.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Thursday, the official said amount of over Rs 21 crore has been disbursed as loans to the medium and small enterprises as on June 3. “The number (of MSMEs) and the loan amount will increase with time,” he added.
The Centre last month announced several liquidity measures, which include collateral-free automatic loans under Guarantee Emergency Credit Line (GECL) with tenure of four years and a moratorium of one year for payment of principal along with interest.
In Meghalaya, there are about 3,600 MSMEs which have applied for loan.
The bank official said an important aspect is that “this time we are approaching the borrowers”.
“There is no complicated paperwork involved and all we need is the borrower’s consent. We have a list of MSMEs and we are calling them up and sending bankers to them,” he added.
However, he pointed out that there is difficulty in contacting many small-time businessmen in remote areas.
