Budget 2019: Rs 7,23,000 crore disbursed under Mudra Yojana, says Finance Minister Piyush Goyal

New Delhi [India], Feb 1 (ANI): The Centre has disbursed Rs 7,23,000 crore against 15.56 crore loans so far, said Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday while presenting the interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha.
“Under Mudra Yojana, 15.56 crore loans have been disbursed amounting to Rs 7,23,000 crore,” said Union Minister for Finance Goyal, who also holds the charge of Corporate Affairs, Railways and Coal ministries.
“India is amongst the most youthful nations in the world. Through Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, over 1 crore youth are being trained to help them earn a livelihood,” he said.
“Youth power has been harnessed through self-employment schemes including Mudra, Start-up India, and Stand-up India. With job seekers becoming job creators, India has become the world’s second largest start-up hub. The Government is proud of the hard work and innovative ideas of our youth,” he said.
Mudra Yojana, also called Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), is being implemented in all the States/Union Territories across the country. The scheme was launched in April 2016. It aims at making funds available through scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) to women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), OBCs, and Scheduled Tribes (STs) entrepreneurs.
According to the NSSO survey of 2013, there are 5.77 crore small business units, mostly individual proprietorships, which run small manufacturing, trading or services activities. Most of these ‘own account enterprises’ are owned by people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Classes.
“But only four per cent of such units get institutional finance. Providing access to institutional finance to such micro and small business units would turn them into strong instrument of gross domestic product (GDP) growth and also employment,” said the government in a statement.
It is worth mentioning that microfinance is an economic development tool whose objective is to assist the poor to work their way out of poverty. It covers a range of services which include, in addition to the provision of credit, many other services such as savings, insurance, money transfers, counseling, and so on.
Talking about ways to take the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies to the people, Finance Minister Goyal said that a national programme on ‘Artificial Intelligence’ has been envisaged by the government.
“This would be catalyzed by the establishment of the National Centre on Artificial Intelligence as a hub along with Centres of Excellence. Nine priority areas have been identified. A National Artificial Intelligence portal will also be developed soon,” said Finance Minister Goyal. (ANI)