State-run banks disburse Rs 81,700 crore through 'loan melas'

New Delhi, Oct 14: The Finance Ministry on Monday said loans worth Rs 81,781 crore were disbursed during the nine-day outreach programme or loan mela organised by banks that began on October 1.

Finance Secretary Rajeev Kumar said "Rs 81,781 crore was disbursed in the outreach programme. Of these, new loans accounted for Rs 34,342 crore."

Further, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the banks have sufficient liquidity, and efforts are being made to ensure that due payments are released to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector by large corporates.

In order to ensure liquidity for small businesses, Sitharaman said that banks have been asked to provide bill discounting facility to the MSME sector against payments due from the large corporates.

According to returns filed by the large corporates to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, as much as Rs 40,000 crore is due to the MSME sector, she said adding that all efforts would be made to ensure that MSMEs get their dues ahead of Diwali.

India celebrates the festival of light on October 27.