Banks in Gujarat have reported a massive 34 per cent jump in NPAs from the small business loans extended under the Mudra scheme, one of the flagships of the Modi government, in the March quarter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) in 2015 during his first stint, where small businesses were provided loans of up Rs 10 lakh.
Bad loans under this scheme shot up by Rs 131.45 crore to Rs 516.32 crore as at the end of March 2019 quarter compared to the December 2018 period, which is a 34 per cent rise, according to a report by the state-level banking committee (SLBC).
While the total outstanding in the state under the Mudra scheme grew to Rs 10,085.04 crore by the end of March 2019, from Rs 8,671.15 crore in December 2018, an increase of 16 percent, according to the SLBC report.
The report states that against the disbursement target of Rs 8,083 crore for FY19 in Gujarat, "banks have disbursed Rs 6,595.09 crore, which is 81.59 per cent of the target" for Mudra scheme in the state.
The scheme was launched to encourage small businesses, and banks were asked provide collateral-free loans up to Rs 10 lakh under three categories—Shishu (up to Rs 50,000), Kishore (between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh) and Tarun (Rs 10 lakh). Notably, it was Shishu accounts, or small borrowers, which forms higher NPA chunk.
Of the total Rs 516.32 crore NPAs under scheme in Gujarat, bad loans worth Rs 209.87 crore belonged to this category. It was followed by Kishore with Rs 192.60 crore and Tarun with Rs 113.86 crore.
