Union Budget comes out with measures to boost MSME sector

• Centre to set up 100 branches of India Post Payments Bank in North East
• Govt to launch three employment-linked schemes: FM
• New centrally-sponsored scheme to skill 20 lakh youth over 5 years

NEW DELHI — The government will come out with a credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to facilitate term loans without collateral or third party guarantee, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Presenting her seventh straight Union Budget, she also said that public sector banks to build in-house capability for credit assessment of MSMEs.

As part of a slew of measures to boost the sector, the government will reduce the turnover threshold of MSME buyers for mandatory onboarding on TReDs platform from Rs 500 crore to Rs 250 crore.

TReDS is an online platform to help MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises).

Among other steps, SIDBI will open 24 new branches to serve MSMEs clusters.

In the Budget, Sitharaman said Rs 2.66 lakh crore is being provided for rural development.

Further, the government will launch saturation drive under Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN).

Centre to set up 100 branches of India Post Payments Bank in North East

The government on Tuesday announced that it will set up as many as 100 branches of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) in Northeastern states of the country.

The announcement was made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget for 2024-25.

IPPB has crores of accounts at present and operates through lakhs of branches.

Govt to launch three employment-linked schemes: FM

The government on Tuesday said it will launch three employment-linked schemes.

While presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will provide incentives to 30 lakh youth entering the job market by providing one month's PF (provident fund) contribution.

She announced that working women hostels will be set up in the country to promote women's participation in the workforce.

She added that the government will provide funds to the private sector, domain experts and others for developing climate-resilient seeds.

An already existing scheme -- MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee) -- aims to provide 100 days of wage employment in a particular fiscal year to at least one member of every household whose adult members seek manual work.

New centrally-sponsored scheme to skill 20 lakh youth over 5 years

The government on Tuesday announced a new centrally-sponsored scheme for skilling 20 lakh youth over the next five years.

The announcement was made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2024-25.

The minister said that model skilling loan scheme will be revised to facilitate loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh.

As part of boosting skilling efforts, 1,000 ITIs will be upgraded on the hub-and-spoke model. Besides, the government will provide financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions.

Sitharaman said the new centrally-sponsored scheme for skilling in collaboration with states and industry will train 20 lakh youth over a period of five years.

Also read: Link skill development with production-linked, job-linked sops in high-growth areas: Eco Survey