MSMEs in West Bengal secured Rs 1.20 lakh Cr in bank loans last fiscal

The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector in West Bengal received bank loans aggregating Rs 1.20 lakh crore from banks during the last financial year, an official said on Tuesday.

Nearly 90 lakh MSME units are functioning in the state, employing close to 1.35 crore people, state MSME secretary Rajesh Pandey said.

"The MSME sector in West Bengal received loans worth Rs 1.20 lakh crore from banks in the last financial year. While each MSME unit has an employment potential of 25 to 40 people per Rs 1 crore invested, the same is only five to ten people for large-scale units. This is why the MSME sector commands so much importance in West Bengal," he said at an event.

Pandey said according to a report prepared by Niti Aayog, credit flow to the MSME sector across the country has not been adequate in the past.

"In 2021-22, credit flow from banks to the MSME sector in West Bengal was Rs 1.02 lakh crore, which increased to Rs 1.20 lakh crore in 2022-23. The target for the current fiscal is Rs 1.40 lakh crore," Pandey said.

He said the state government is also planning to come up with a policy for start-ups.

Under the 'Bhavisyat Credit Card' scheme of the state, the government has received 70,000 applications, one-third of which have been already processed by the banks.

The state government has entered into an arrangement with leading business research and analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) for the MSME sector.

Under the arrangement, D&B will assign a unique number to a specific MSME unit which will capture various financial health indicators of the business entity.