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New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Andhra Pradesh attracted Rs 9.34 lakh crore investments in just 11 months: Minister Nara Lokesh
VIJAYAWADA: The NDA government in Andhra Pradesh, led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has secured investments worth Rs 9.34 lakh crore in just 11 months, which the previous YSRCP regime failed to achieve even in its five-year regime, said Minister for HRD, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh. Chairing a high-level meeting on job creation at his Undavalli residence on Wednesday, Lokesh announced that 78 large-scale industries (Rs 9.20 lakh crore) and 1,19,580 MSMEs (Rs 13,895 crore) have committed to investments, and are expected to generate 8.5 lakh jobs. He emphasised the government's investor-friendly policies, directing officials to establish Project Monitoring Units under the Economic Development Board. He stressed providing land and infrastructure for renewable energy projects on a war footing, and promoting beach tourism to tap the State's vast coastline for employment opportunities. He also called for skill training programmes to meet industry demands, integration with WhatsApp governance for swift approvals, and linking MSMEs with the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme. Lokesh urged expedited measures for a world-class cricket stadium in Amaravati with the BCCI support.
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Andhra Pradesh attracted ₹9.5 lakh crore investments in 11 months: Lokesh
Minister for HRD Nara Lokesh on Wednesday claimed that the NDA-led government under Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu achieved in 11 months what the previous YSRCP regime could not in five years—attracting a record ₹9.5 lakh crore worth of investments with the potential to generate over 8.5 lakh jobs. Chairing a high-level meeting at his Undavalli residence with his cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats on employment generation, Lokesh—who also heads the Cabinet Committee on Employment Generation—said 78 major industrial proposals worth ₹9.2 lakh crore and 1,19,580 MSME proposals worth ₹13,895 crore have been signed since the coalition assumed power. He emphasized continuous monitoring of projects through sector-specific Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) within the Economic Development Board (EDB), especially for key investors such as NTPC, BPCL, Reliance and Tata Power. Highlighting opportunities in beach tourism, Mr. Lokesh called for speedy permissions and infrastructure support for luxury projects like Oberoi and Varun Beach Sands in Visakhapatnam. He directed officials to accelerate land and utility allotment for renewable energy projects and urged exploration in beach sand and coal gasification mining. The Minister also underscored the need for a strong skill-based ecosystem to train youth for emerging industries and instructed the integration of WhatsApp governance to fast-track investor approvals. He proposed linking MSMEs with the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) to enhance job creation. Among those present were Ministers Ponguru Narayana (Municipal Administration and Urban Development), Kandula Durgesh (Tourism), T.G. Bharat (Industries), Kondapalli Srinivas (MSME), Kollu Ravindra (Mines and Geology) and Gottipati Ravi Kumar (Energy), along with senior officials N. Yuvaraj, Ajay Jain, Saikanth Varma, Katamneni Bhaskar, Abhishek Kishore, Kamalakar Babu and Praveen Kumar.
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Bank loan sanctions to MSMEs for job creation down nearly a third in FY25
Bank loans sanctioned to India's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) dipped by nearly a third to ₹12,315 crore in FY25, from ₹17,759 crore in FY24. The development assumes significance since MSMEs contribute around 29% to India's GDP. This comes in the backdrop of the government reworking its revival framework for MSMEs to ensure continuity of bank credit during their stress period. Launched in 2008 by merging Prime Minister's Rojgar Yojana and Rural Employment Generation Programme, PMEGP is a flagship credit-linked subsidy scheme of the government. Entrepreneurial demand weakens Bank loans sanctioned to MSMEs increased in FY22 in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, and continued to increase till FY24. From FY22 to FY24, the amount of bank loans sanctioned to MSMEs nearly doubled from a little over ₹9,000 crore to nearly ₹18,000 crore, before falling to FY25 levels of ₹12,315 crore, according to data provided by the MSME ministry. Also Read: Kanpur node is key in UP Defence Corridor for indigenous manufacturing: PM Modi The dip in sanctioned loans also reflected a reduction in the number of businesses seeking credit. The number of businesses which received bank loans under the scheme in FY25 is lower than that in FY22, according to MSME ministry data. In FY25, about 1,08,923 MSMEs received loans from banks under the PMEGP, less than FY22's 1,09,127, after peaking in FY24 with 1,65,725 businesses, the data showed. Global uncertainty is likely to have doused entrepreneurial sentiment for smaller businesses in FY25, banking experts said. MSME growth is driven by domestic and global macroeconomic environment, said Vivek Iyer, partner and financial services risk leader, Grant Thornton Bharat. "FY25 has been categorized with many uncertainties ranging from geopolitical stress points in west Asia, the Russia Ukraine conflict, Sino-American rivalry, the impending US election outcome and then the subsequent outcome of the US election. When sentiment is poor, demand to start ventures is poor and hence demand for credit is poor," he said. Also Read: India remains fastest-growing economy for fourth year straight: FM Sitharaman Iyer clarified that banks had not changed their assessment criteria for MSME loans, highlighting that the dip in sanctioned bank loans is a demand-side issue, and not a supply-side problem. Access to finance still a hurdle The key objective of the PMEGP was to aid micro enterprises of self-employment ventures to provide employment to artisans and youth in both rural and urban regions. The intention of the scheme was to curb the migration of youth from rural to urban regions, the MSME ministry annual report for FY25 said. Under the scheme, the central government provides a part of the capital required to start a venture. Nearly one million micro enterprises have been assisted since the inception of the scheme till December 2024 with aid of ₹26,124 crore, providing estimated employment opportunities to over 80 lakh people, the MSME ministry FY25 annual report said. Lack of access to capital has been a key hurdle in MSME growth in India. A study by Niti Aayog and the Institute for Competitiveness in May 2025 cited Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data to show that MSMEs continued to have a small share of the credit to businesses deployed by 41 scheduled banks from 2020 to 2024. Also Read: Govt relaxes rules to boost GST registration among small businesses In September 2020, 14% of all credit deployed by these banks went to micro and small enterprises, while 4% went to medium enterprises. The situation improved by September 2024, when 20% went to micro and small enterprises, and 9% went to medium enterprises. The share of credit deployed to large businesses, however, still remained 71% in 2024, according to the data. In a 2022 World Bank Enterprise Survey, over a fifth of Indian MSMEs said access to finance is their biggest obstacle.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
CBI arrests bank officials in Bihar, Assam on bribery charges
'The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two accused, including the branch manager of Bihar Gramin Bank, Babhangama Branch in Sitamarhi district, and a daily wager employee (private person), for demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹10,000 from a complainant,' according to an official release. The CBI registered a case against the accused on May 29, 2025, on allegations that they had demanded a bribe of ₹15,000 from the complainant in exchange for releasing the subsidy amount related to a Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) loan that had already been sanctioned and disbursed to the complainant in 2022. According to the statement, CBI laid a trap and caught both the accused red-handed while demanding and accepting ₹10,000 in bribes from the complainant. Both were subsequently arrested and will be produced before the Court of Special Judge, CBI, Patna, on May 30. Searches were conducted on the accused's residential and official premises in Sitamarhi, Bihar, where incriminating documents were recovered. Investigation is ongoing. Meanwhile, in a separate operation in Assam, the CBI arrested the Branch Manager of Central Bank of India, Dhamdhama Branch, District Nalbari, Assam, for demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹5,000 from the complainant. As per the statement, a case was registered by the CBI on Thursday (May 27, 2025) against the accused on the allegation that he demanded an undue advantage of ₹5,000 from the complainant to enhance his overdraft (OD) facility. CBI laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed for demanding and accepting the bribe of ₹5,000. The accused was later arrested and will be produced before the CBI Court in Guwahati on May 30. 'Investigation is continuing,' said the statement. Meanwhile, in Bhubaneshwar, the CBI arrested Enforcement Directorate Deputy Director Chintan Raghuvanshi (IRS) on corruption charges.
New Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Banks asked to achieve credit target of Rs 2.52 lakh crore in FY 2025-26
BHUBANESWAR: Development commissioner Anu Garg on Friday stressed the need to achieve 100 per cent annual credit plan (ACP) target to the tune of Rs 2.52 lakh crore for the financial year 2025-26. Addressing the 179th state level bankers' committee meeting along with the special SLBC on financial inclusion and financial literacy of Odisha here, she said the role of adequate credit is critical as Odisha marches towards 2036 with an aspiration to become a developed state. She urged the bankers to support the recently launched 'financial assistance to cold storage ' scheme, aimed at strengthening the storage ecosystem of the state to minimise the post-harvest loss and prevent distress sale by farmers, initially covering all the 58 subdivisions in the state. Executive director of UCO Bank VN Kamble appreciated the bankers for achieving a 100 per cent target in the agriculture sector, but expressed his concern for not achieving ACP in the MSME sector. He urged them to prioritise lending to MSMEs which are the major contributors to the economy. Principal secretary of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment department Arabinda Kumar Padhee called upon banks to support entrepreneurship under agriculture and allied sector. Principal secretary of Finance department Saswat Mishra emphasised on improving performance by private sector banks in government sponsored schemes like Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), PM Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme and PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi). Regional director of RBI Bhubaneswar Sarada Prasan Mohanty stressed the efforts of the lead district managers for conducting town hall meetings to resolve the issues of MSME entrepreneurs and promote government schemes at the district level. Principal secretaries Usha Padhee and Suresh Kumar Vashishth, convener of SLBC and senior bank officials were present among others.
