For this, a credit guarantee scheme has been proposed, which will pool the credit risk of MSME borrowers to fund purchases up to Rs 100 crore.
The borrower will provide an upfront guarantee fee, with an annual guarantee fee on reducing loan balance.
"This is a major change as even a Rs 50 lakh bank loan currently takes months.
"This is expected to be a significant improvement over the traditional assessment of credit eligibility based only on asset or turnover criteria.
That will also cover MSMEs without a formal accounting system," Sitharaman said.Apart from credit, timely payment has been another major grouse of small businesses.

Budget 2024: Major boost for MSMEs with new credit schemes and technological upgrades