Micro biz has a harder time securing loan to start up

Bank lending to first-time micro-entrepreneurs has plummeted, signalling tighter credit conditions for small businesses already struggling with cash flow pressures and trade turmoil. In the first six months of the fiscal year, a key central scheme to support such lending managed to sanction just about 12% of what was sanctioned in the entire previous fiscal year, official data showed.

- Manas Pimpalkhare

The Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), now in its 17th year, provides loan subsidies to traditional artisans and unemployed youth to float sma