State Bank of India (SBI) has sanctioned loans to over 4 lakh accounts under the Rs 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSME sector, hit hard by the coronavirus-induced lockdown. On the occasion of International MSME Day, SBI managing director C S Shetty on Friday addressed MSME customers and employees across the nation video conference.

SME products were highlighted to the customers to increase awareness and enable them to choose the right product for their business, SBI said in a statement.

At the national level, the bank has sanctioned loans to over 4 lakh customers under guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) facility so far, a senior bank official said.

About Rs 20,000 crore has been sanctioned to eligible MSME customers under the scheme which was launched on June 1.

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

The main objective of the scheme is to provide an incentive to member lending institutions to increase access and enable availability of additional funding facility to MSME borrowers, in view of the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, by giving them 100 per cent guarantee for any losses suffered by them due to non-repayment of the GECL funding by borrowers.

The statement further said Chief General Manager, Delhi Circle, Vijuy Ronjan committed unhindered support to MSMEs by SBI in times to come. SBI deputy managing director and Chief Operating Officer Saloni Narayan also participated in the video conference.