By PTI

NEW DELHI: The State Bank of India (SBI) authorized loans to over 4 lakh accounts under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Program (ECLGS) of Rs 3-lakh crore for the MSME sector, hard hit by coronavirus-induced lockdown.

On International MSME Day, SBI Managing Director CS Shetty spoke to MSME clients and employees across the country on Friday via video conference. SME products have been promoted to customers to increase awareness and enable them to choose the right product for their business, SBI said in a statement.

A senior bank official said that at the national level, the bank has so far granted loans to more than 4 lakhs of customers under a guaranteed emergency line of credit (GECL). Around Rs 20,000 crore has been sanctioned for eligible MSME clients under the program which was launched on June 1st.

The program will be applicable to all loans sanctioned under the GECL facility during the period from the date of the announcement of the plan to October 31 or until an amount of Rs 3 lakh crore is sanctioned. as part of the program, whichever comes first.

The main objective of the program is to incentivize member credit institutions to increase access and enable the availability of an additional financing facility for MSME borrowers, given the economic distress caused by the COVID-crisis. 19, by offering them a 100% guarantee. for any loss suffered by them due to non-repayment of GECL financing by borrowers.

The statement further states that Delhi Circle Chief Executive Officer Vijuy Ronjan has pledged to fully support MSMEs through the SBI in the coming times. SBI Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Saloni Narayan also participated in the video conference.