Underscoring the role of women entrepreneurs in the Indian economy SBI, Visakhapatnam DGM, Mr Pankaj Kumar urged women entrepreneurs to take the leap of faith and convert their business ideas into reality.

Addressing a CII session on connecting PSUs with women entrepreneurs SBI’s DGM said that there is a need to empower women entrepreneurs and encourage them in achieving their financial dreams. 

Emphasizing the importance of MSMEs in the country he said that MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian economy however noted that the number of women owned MSMEs need to go up. 

Citing the Udyam Registration Portal (URP) of the Ministry of MSME SBI’s DGM informed that women-owned MSMEs constitute 20.5% of the total number of MSMEs registered on the Portal since its inception on 1st July 2020. 

Mr Pankaj therefore highlighted the various schemes available to women entrepreneurs and urged them to first get acquainted on the plethora of schemes available to women entrepreneurs. 

‘I must cite the Stand-Up India scheme of the government of India here which is to facilitate bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 Crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up a Greenfield Project’ noted SBI’s DGM. 

He further spoke on the ease of availing a loan in today’s day and age and opined that with the advent of technology getting a loan is just a click away. ‘We at SBI have adopted technology in a big way. 

Today you can avail of pre-approved loans within a matter of minutes and the sanction can be done in as fast as a day’s time’ stated Mr Pankaj. 

He however cautioned the entrepreneurs and informed them that the discretion of sanctioning a loan depended on the viability of the project, proper documentation being in place, CIBIL score and other such parameters.