According to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, banks have issued loans worth Rs 18.6 trillion to roughly 34.4 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), which will finish its seventh year on Friday.
Loans up to Rs 10 lakh are available to beneficiaries under the scheme, which is aimed largely at budding and small enterprises in the non-corporate and non-farm sectors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the scheme's success.
The Mudra Yojana, which is guided by the philosophy of financing the unfunded, has "provided a chance to innumerable Indians to demonstrate their entrepreneurial abilities and become job creators," according to Modi.
According to Sitharaman, women account for over 68 percent of Mudra account holders, and 22 percent of loans were issued to new entrepreneurs.
According to the minister, up to 51% of total sanctioned loans have gone to recipients in the SC/ST/OBC categories, implying that the scheme is also about social justice.
The Prime Minister announced the scheme on April 8, 2015.
Despite the fact that the pandemic has slowed Mudra loan growth, disbursements have maintained considerably above the yearly norm of Rs 2.66 trillion until FY20.
These loan disbursements totaled Rs 3.12 trillion in FY21, and Rs 3.03 trillion in FY22.
Experts have cautioned of increased concerns of asset quality deterioration due to the fact that the majority of Mudra loans are collateral-free, yet they also acknowledge that the scheme has expanded access to credit for those in disadvantaged groups.
Mudra loans are available to three sections of the population: Sishu, Kishore, and Tarun. Customers seeking loans of up to Rs 50,000 go into the Sishu category; those seeking credit of more than Rs 50,000 but less than Rs 5 lakh fall into the Kishore loan category; and those seeking credit of more than Rs 5 lakh but less than Rs 10 lakh fall into the Tarun category.
