New Delhi: The Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday that over 1,80,000 businesses have received loans worth more than Rs 40,000 crore through the Start-up India Scheme over the course of the last seven years.

The programme, which focuses on economic empowerment and employment creation, was introduced on April 5, 2016, with the goal of promoting SC, ST, and women businesses at the grassroots level.

The Start-up India Scheme was prolonged through 2025 in 2019–20. The ministry had stated in April last year that more than Rs 30,160 crore in loans had been paid under the plan in the first six years. This suggests that disbursals over the previous year totaled about Rs 10,000 crore, or about 25% of all disbursals.

Out of more than 1,80,000 people who have benefited from the programme so far, the government reported that 1,44,787 of them were women business owners, while 26,889 belonged to the Scheduled Castes and 8,960 to the Scheduled Tribes.

The programme makes it possible for at least one SC or ST borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) to receive a bank loan in the amount of Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore for the establishment of a new business in the manufacturing, services, or trading sectors, as well as in activities related to agriculture.

The ministry had stated in April of last year that more than Rs 30,160 crore in loans had been paid under the plan in the first six years. This suggests that disbursals over the previous year totaled about Rs 10,000 crore, or about 25% of all disbursals.

For a non-individual business, a SC, ST, or woman owner must own at least 51 percent of the company in order to be eligible for a credit. A credit is available to SC or ST and/or female entrepreneurs who are at least 18 years old and have at least a 51% controlling interest in a new, non-individual company.

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