SIDBI to provide emergency working capital of up to Rs 1 crore to MSMEs

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on Tuesday said it will provide emergency working capital of up to Rs 1 crore to small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) against their confirmed government orders. The SIDBI Assistance to Facilitate Emergency response against Coronavirus (SAFE) PLUS will be offered collateral-free and disbursed within 48 hours.

In a press release, SIDBI informed that the loans will be offered at an interest rate of five per cent. Meanwhile, the bank further informed that the limit of SAFE loans announced a few days back has been enhanced from Rs 50 lakh rupees to Rs 2 crore.

The objective of SAFE PLUS: The scheme was launched to provide financial assistance to MSMEs engaged in manufacturing of hand sanitizers, masks, gloves, headgear, bodysuits, shoe-covers, ventilators and goggles used in dealing with COVID-19.

The SAFE PLUS loan will be offered to the MSMEs as an emergency funding in the wake of the lockdown due to coronavirus outbreak. The limit has been enhanced for those MSMEs that are eligible under the respective state government's special policy package for interest subsidy, subvention or capital subsidy.

It has been done to assist them to execute government orders without any capital crunch during the crisis time.

Besides this, SIDBI has opened an additional financial window for the healthcare sector of India under its flagship scheme called SIDBI Make in India Soft Loan Fund for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (Smile).