Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launched the National MSME Cluster Outreach Programme, organised jointly by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in presence of Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi, Union Minister for MSMEs (virtual presence from Gaya, Bihar); Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Finance; Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for MSMEs, in Bengaluru, today. Shri Nagaraju Maddirala, Secretary, DFS; Shri Manoj Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director of SIDBI; and seniors officials of Public Sector Banks and NABARD were also present.

Around 150 MSME Clusters were connected virtually for the launch with senior bank officials being present in each of these Clusters. The programme aims to ensure access to Financial Services and promote the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.

The Union Finance Minister also virtually inaugurated six new SIDBI Branches in Karnataka, located at Tumakuru, Raichur, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Mangaluru and Vijayapura, thereby expanding SIDBI’s reach and financial assistance to MSMEs in these Clusters. Smt. Sitharaman also inaugurated four Nari Shakti Branches of Union Bank of India at Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur and Vishakhapatnam, with the goal of empowering women entrepreneurs and the Learning Centre of Canara Bank at Bagaluru, Bengaluru.

In her address on the occasion, Smt. Sitharaman underscored the importance of MSMEs in India's economic development, particularly their role in innovation, job creation, and contributing to the country’s self-reliance.

The Union Finance Minister also interacted with entrepreneurs, providing insights on how the government and financial institutions can further support their growth and sustainability.  Smt. Sitharaman said that banks need to walk extra mile for enhancing credit to MSME sector.

The Union Finance Minister set the target for all Scheduled Commercial Banks and NBFCs for providing additional MSME credit of Rs. 1.54 lakh crore in the current financial year. Thus the banks and NBFCs should aim at total credit growth of Rs 5.75 lakh crore, Rs. 6.21 lakh crore and Rs 7 lakh crore to MSMEs in Financial Year 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 respectively.

In his virtual address on the occasion, Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi highlighted the Government’s initiatives aimed at bolstering the MSME sector and urged all the banks to focus towards extending more credit to small enterprises in rural areas.

During the event, SIDBI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Peenya Industries Association strengthening the collaboration to support MSMEs through capacity building, credit facilities, and knowledge-sharing.

Smt. Sitharaman also distributed sanction letters to 11 MSME customers of SIDBI, aggregating to Rs. 25.75 crore and 2 sanction letters to MSME customers of Nari Shakti Branch of Union Bank of India aggregating Rs.11 crore, across various sectors aimed at supporting enterprises from traditional industries to advanced sectors such as aerospace and quantum technology.

The Union Finance Minister also handed over sanction letters to five borrowers of Canara Bank under newly launched Tarun Plus category of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna (PMMY). The DFS had recently implemented the Union Budget 2024-25 announcement to increase the loan limit under the PMMY from Rs 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.

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NB/KMN