NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, FEB 19
Months after signing an MoU with the public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB), the industries department of the state government on Tuesday signed another MoU with the State Bank of India (SBI) to provide easy financial assistance to micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) entrepreneurs. New entrepreneurs, who want to set up MSMEs in Gujarat will get assistance for availing working capital and project cost in a specific time limit.
According to the MoU, entrepreneurs will get in-principle permission of financial assistance within 15 days of applying for a loan to start new projects. When the bank receives an application of a new MSME entrepreneur, directly or through the MSME portal or the nodal agency, the bank will give an in-principle approval of financial assistance to the project within 15 days.
The SBI has agreed to provide funding for startup projects from its 54 specialised MSME branches.
SBI officials apprised the chief minister that as compared to last year, this year a higher number of MSME units have sought loan-assistance from the bank in Gujarat. The loan recovery from MSMEs has also been much better this year as compared to the previous year, officials said.
The MoU was signed by principal secretary (industry) and principal secretary to chief minister M K Das and Ramesh Kumar Agarwal, general manager, SBI, Ahmedabad circle.
The state government has announced a policy, providing special benefits to over 35 lakh MSME units of the state for the production of solar energy. In addition to these, MSME units setting up ‘greenfield projects’, startups by women entrepreneurs, and units that are set up in backward regions will be encouraged, officials said.
