The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced the expansion of the scope of priority sector loan category. Moreover, start-ups have also been included in the primary category of bank loans.
Under this, start-ups will be provided a loan of up to Rs 50 crore. Apart from this, loans will also be provided to farmers for setting up solar plants and compressed biogas plants.
After a major review of the Priority Sector Loan (PSL) guidelines, the RBI on Friday (August 04) said that it has been revised to suit the emerging national priorities. The RBI said that after discussions with all shareholders, it will now focus more on overall development.
According to the release issued by the Reserve Bank, the revised PSL guidelines will improve the accessibility of loans to the deprived areas. This will provide more loans to small and marginal farmers and weaker sections of society. Along with this, loans to renewable energy, health infrastructure will also be increased.
Up to 59 Crore Finance for Start Up
Now up to Rs 50 crore finance can be made available to start-ups in PSL from banks. The release said that the new categories added to PSL include giving loans to farmers for solar power plants and compressed biogas plants.
The RBI has said that under the revised guidelines, an attempt has also been made to resolve the issue of regional disparity in the flow of priority sector loans. The apex bank also said that they have been given more weightage to provide increased priority sector loans for selected districts. The flow of priority sector loans in these districts is comparatively less.
More Loan limit has been fixed for FPOs and FPCs
RBI said that the target set for small and marginal farmers and weaker sections would be increased in a phased manner. The apex bank said that more loan limit has been fixed for Kisan Product Organizations (FPOs) and Kisan Product Companies (FPCs). Under the new rules, the loan limit for renewable energy, health infrastructure (including projects under Ayushman Bharat) has been doubled.
