New Delhi, October 17: The Finance Ministry announced that banks have sanctioned loans of about Rs 1.86 lakh crore to 50 lakh business units under the Rs 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector, those who have been affected by a slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a report by PTI, over 27 lakh MSME units have received about Rs 1,32,246 crore till September 29.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme is part of the fiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package that was announced to lessen the stress caused by the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic.

The scheme will be applicable to all loans sanctioned under GECL facility during the period from the date of announcement of the scheme to October 31 or till the amount of Rs 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.