Over 1.8 lakh women and entrepreneurs from the SC/ST categories have been sanctioned loans for more than Rs 40,600 crore under the Stand Up India Scheme in the last seven years, the Union finance ministry said. However, there is no data available to check the disbursements of these sanctioned loans. According to government data, 80 percent of the beneficiaries in the scheme were women.

According to government data, a total of 26,889 entrepreneurs under SC were sanctioned loans worth Rs 5,625.50 crore and 8,960 businesspersons under ST were sanctioned total loans worth Rs 1,932.50 crore since the scheme launched. Most of these loans were sanctioned to women entrepreneurs — Rs 33,152.43 crore to 1,44,787 women.

The Stand Up India Scheme, which is the government's initiative for financing persons that fall under the SC/ST categories as well as women entrepreneurs, completed seven years on April 5. Under the scheme, bank loans worth Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore are offered to at least one borrower from the SC/ST categories and at least one woman borrower per bank branch of the scheduled commercial banks.

Also Read: Davos 2023 | Need more 'he for shes' to hit gender parity, agrees WEF panel

“The scheme has created an ecosystem which facilitates and continues to provide a supportive environment for setting up green field enterprises through access to loans from bank branches of all Scheduled Commercial Banks. Stand-Up India Scheme has proved to be an important milestone in promoting entrepreneurship among SC, ST and women,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on the 7th anniversary of the SUPI Scheme.

Loans under the Stand Up India scheme are available for only green field projects — the beneficiary's first time venture in manufacturing, services or the trading sector and activities allied to agriculture. In case of non-individual enterprises, 51 percent of the shareholding and controlling stake should be held by either SC/ST and/or a women entrepreneurs, to be eligible for the scheme.

"The Stand Up India scheme is based on the third pillar of National Mission for Financial Inclusion namely “Funding the unfunded," Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad said.

He added that over 1.8 lakh entrepreneurs have benefitted from the scheme in the last seven years. "It is also a matter of immense pleasure for me that more than 80 percent of loans given under this scheme have been provided to women," Karad said.

Also Read: She Leads Panel: 7 women talk about their journey and challenges they faced