Cabinet OKs 10,000 crore SME growth fund

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the setting up of Rs 10,000 crore SME Growth Fund (SGF), aimed at catalysing growth-oriented capital for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enable the emergence of champion enterprises across manufacturing, services, technology, innovation-driven sectors and strategic value chains. The fund was announced in the last budget, focusing on providing equity, liquidity and professional support for the MSME ecosystem."There are existing funds which provide equity support but majority of them focus on early-stage enterprises and cover majorly micro enterprises. A structural gap exists for equity growth capital for SMEs. The fund will consider SME's operating in industrial clusters in Tier II and Tier III cities," government said in a statement. It added that by providing long-term capital, the initiative will enable Indian SMEs to scale operations.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.