Budget 2019: Start-ups expect digital lending support from Modi-Jaitley

Hailing the digital lending support that approves start-up loans in less than an hour, Indian SMEs and MSMEs have demanded some concrete announcement from the Narendra Modi government when the Finance Minister stands in parliament to present budget 2019 on February 1. They said start-ups have very lesser work force (some times less than five) and it takes more than a month to get your loan approved from a bank in current system.

Rajeev Chawla, Chairman, IamSMEofIndia told Zee Business online, "When everything is going digital, the government step to approve start-up loans in less than an hour is a welcome step. But, it is almost unknown to majority of the start-ups moving from pillar to post to get their loans approved. So, an announcement from the finance minister from the floor of the parliament would be enough to make entrepreneurs know about the online loan approval system." 

Chawala, who is member at the executive panel for SMEs and MSMEs at FICCI told that online loan system would help start-ups to apply for loan without leaving their official work behind as well — a situation where even if the loan is rejected the entrepreneur won't repent for the losses incurred on him due to negligence of his firm's work while applying for loan. 

Sameer Vakil, Cofounder & Chief Executive Officer, GlobalLinker told Zee Business online, "With SMEs becoming increasingly digitally adaptive, I would like the government to continue recognizing and supporting the digital lending sector. The recent announcement of loans upto Rs 1 crore being approved online in 59 minutes is a step in the right direction and the sector will benefit from similar initiatives. I am expecting the Finance Minister to announce tax sops that include reduced tax rates and easing working capital blockages. GST in particular needs to be addressed and whilst the wheels have already been set in motion, I feel optimistic that a formal announcement will be made during the budget about simplifying the compliance requirements by SMEs. I also believe that the sector will benefit tremendously with the introduction of incentives and subsidies."