EEPC India urges RBI to facilitate easy bank loans for MSME exporters

Engineering exporters’ apex body Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to facilitate easy and cheaper bank loans mainly for the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), according to media reports.

“With US-China trade tensions leaving the global financial markets and trade in a state of anxiety, it is time for Indian exporters to stay competitive and RBI should facilitate easy and less expensive bank loans for the MSME exporters,” read a statement by EEPC.

In its presentation to the RBI, EEPC suggested RBI that the interest equalisation scheme for the exporters to become horizontal in nature by covering the entire MSME sector so that the linkage with exports goes away and does not fall foul of the WTO's norms as well.

It also suggested that banks should not ask MSMEs for external credit rating as they are already doing an internal rating. The banks were also advised not to charge loan application processing and credit limit renewal fee.

Ravi Sehgal, EEPC Chairman, said, “We are in the midst of a very anxious global economic environment marked by ever-rising US-China trade tensions, instability in the crude oil prices which tend to leave forex market highly volatile. In this trading landscape, the Indian exporters, particularly the small enterprises in the engineering sector, are facing the severe cost and other challenges.”

“Besides, when export bills are purchased/discounted under ECGC policy, in case of non-realisation on the due date, banks should not recover the money by debiting the exporters' account. Rather they should wait for payment beyond the due date otherwise they should wait for the claim to be settled by ECGC,” stated the EECG presentation.

EEPC India has been the face of Indian engineering exports over a span of 63 years when India grew from a nation exporting just $10 million of engineering goods in 1955 to $81 billion in 2018-19. EEPC India is the premier trade and investment promotion organisation in India. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, and caters to the Indian engineering sector.

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