India has over 5.77 Crore small scale business units, mostly acting as sole proprietorships undertaking various tasks for trading, manufacturing, retail, and other small-scale activities. It is significantly large compared to the nation’s organised sector and larger companies, employing only 1.25 Crore individuals across the country. The small scale enterprises carry a tremendous potential to grow and contribute to India’s economy; to fuel this growth, the Government of India has several financial schemes in place, one such is the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.
PMMY was proposed during FY 15-16’s budget and was launched alongside Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Bank in April 2015. It aims to deliver financial aid to small scale business owners across the nation. A significant number of micro and small scale firms do not have access to financial instruments like insurance, credit, and loans, which prevents them from establishing or growing their businesses. These organisations often face financial draught, or debt-traps, resulting in production halt or bankruptcy.
PM Mudra Yojana aims to address that issue. MUDRA initiated with a corpus of Rs. 20,000 Crore and a credit guarantee corpus of Rs. 3,000 Crore. It offers advanced to eligible applicants against an affordable rate of interest to ensure business never runs out of working capital.
Target beneficiaries
The targeted beneficiaries of PMMY are non-corporate small business sector or NCSBS. It consists of primarily as proprietorships and partner firms, contributing as small manufacturing units, vendors, machine operators, services sector units, etc. NCSBS used to face a complete absence of financial support due to its unregulated sector; Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana details and addresses that issue to mitigate their financial requirements.
The principal objectives of this scheme are the following –
● Implement regulation in the microfinancing system for both lender and borrower to create a stable lending platform and increase participation. It also aims to introduce essential financial habits business owners should have to improve their financial gain.
● Extend financial assistance and credit support to Microfinance institutions (MFIs) that offer monetary aid to small businesses. PMMY does that by integrating co-operative, government-backed, and non-banking financial institutions like Bajaj Finserv under the scheme. They offer Business Loans against minimum eligibility criteria and documentation.
This NBFC also provides pre-approved offers on unsecured credits like business loans and personal loans, as well as secured credits like home loans and several other financial products. Pre-approved offers make availing such credits simple and quick. You can check your pre-approved offer by entering only your name and phone number online.
● Create a system of performance rating and certification for last-mile borrowers so that business owners can evaluate and approach a particular MFI that fulfils their requirements. It will create a competitive environment amongst Microfinance Institutions, resulting in a lower rate of interest and introduction of borrower-friendly terms.
● PMMY will help implement guidelines for borrowers to help them avoid failure and undertake critical business strategy in time. It will also create a set of rules for lenders to follow in case they need to recover money after a default.
● Create a credit guarantee scheme to ensure loan disbursal to micro-businesses.
● Introduce suitable technology to streamline the operations of lending, borrowing, monitoring, and utilisation of disbursed capital.
● Create a standardised set of rules and suitable structure under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to create a systematic last-mile finance delivery system.
The MUDRA Bank offers credits under three different segments, credit for starters, for mid-range finance seekers, and next level growth seekers. Let's take a look and learn everything a borrower needs to know about PMMY.
● Credit for starters – Borrowers can get loans of up to Rs. 50,000 under this policy. The interest rate can reach as low as 12% per annum for eligible ap
plicants.
● Credit for mid-range finance seekers – It offers loans above Rs. 50,000 and up to Rs. 5 Lakh to applicants. Its rate of interest can vary depending on the lending organisation and a borrower’s creditworthiness.
● Credit for next-level growth seekers – Loans above Rs. 5 Lakh and up to Rs. 10 Lakh falls under this category. Similar to mid-range finance seeker, its interest rate also depends on a particular lender and a borrower’s creditworthiness.
PMMY creates an excellent refinancing platform that helps entrepreneurs become a successful business owner in future. It is likely to develop an organised last-mile credit delivery system and contribute to the country’s economy.