• The disbursal of small business loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) logged a record 30 per cent growth in the first half of the current financial year ended September compared to the same period last year.
• As on September 2022, banks and other institutions disbursed over ₹1,37,785 crore under PMMY, while in the year-ago period, the same was at about ₹1.06 lakh crore.
• The disbursement in the first half of the current fiscal is the highest growth in the last three years and indicates not only complete normalisation of economic activity but also a higher appetite for small business loans.
• The data on the performance of PMMY showed a decline in total disbursals to ₹3.11 lakh crore in 2020-21 (from ₹3.29 lakh crore) largely due to the impact of Covid-19. However, the growth returned back during 2021-22 with total disbursals reaching ₹3.31 lakh crore. The bankers are expecting to close the current fiscal with disbursals higher than the previous year given the current run rate.

About Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY):

• It is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, launched on 8th April, 2015.
• It is a Financial Inclusion (FI) programme in the country based on three pillars – Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded.

Types of loans:

• Shishu – Covering loans up to Rs 50,000;
• Kishor – Covering loans above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 5 lakh;
• Tarun – Covering loans above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh.

Eligibility:

• Any Indian Citizen who has a business plan for a non-farm sector income generating activities such as manufacturing, processing, trading or service sector.
• They can avail from all Public Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks, Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC) up to Rs 10 lakhs Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) loans under PMMY.