Govt to set up Mudra Bank for priority to SC/ST entrepreneurs

Last Updated: Saturday, February 28, 2015, 12:08

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New Delhi: The government will a create a refinance agency, Mudra Bank with an initial corpus of Rs 20,000 crore to provide credit facilities to SC/ST businesses, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.

"I propose to create a micro units development refinance agency, Mudra Bank with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore and credit guarantee corpus of Rs 3,000 crore," he said while presenting the Union Budget 2015-16 in Parliament.

"The Mudra Bank will refinance institution through a Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. The lending priority will be given to SC/ST enterprises," he added.

Jaitley said development has to generate inclusive growth, and while large corporate and business entities have a role to play, it has to be complemented by informal sector -- enterprises that generate maximum employment.

There are 5.77 crore small business units that are mostly individual proprietorships, running small manufacturing and training business, he said, adding that 62 percent of these are owned by Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes.

"These measures will greatly increase the confidence of our young educated and skilled workers who are able to become the first generation enterprises, and existing small businesses will be able to expand their activities. Just as we are banking the unbanked, we are also funding the unfunded," Jaitley said.