Union Cabinet approves extension of Stand-Up India scheme till 31.03.2031

According to a PIB report, a significant decision was taken in the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the Stand-Up India scheme for another five years. The scheme will now remain in effect until 31.03.2031. The government's primary objective is to promote entrepreneurship among women, Scheduled Caste (SC), and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities. A target has been set to provide financial assistance to at least 2.5 lakh additional beneficiaries during this extended period.

For the implementation of this scheme, the government has also approved a credit guarantee corpus of ₹4,111 crore. Since the scheme was launched in April 2016, more than 2.75 lakh women and SC and ST entrepreneurs have been assisted in obtaining loans. The main purpose of this scheme is to boost new businesses in the country by making the marginalized sections of society economically capable.

The Stand-Up India scheme was launched by the Government of India on 5 April 2016. The main objective of this government initiative was to promote entrepreneurship by facilitating bank loans for women as well as Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs in the country. Under this scheme, there was a provision to provide loans ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore for setting up greenfield enterprises in the manufacturing, trading, or service sectors.