Every scheduled commercial bank branch in India has a standing instruction. Fund at least one SC/ST entrepreneur, and one woman entrepreneur, for a new enterprise. That instruction is Stand Up India.
🏦 Must Know
1. Launch and Purpose
- Launch Stand Up India was launched by the Prime Minister on 5 April 2016.
- Purpose It promotes entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and women entrepreneurs, for setting up new greenfield enterprises.
- Nodal It is run by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.
2. One Loan Per Branch, Per Category
- Branch Mandate Every branch of a Scheduled Commercial Bank must facilitate at least two loans for greenfield enterprises.
- Composition At least one loan must go to an SC or ST borrower, and at least one to a woman borrower, per branch.
- Loan Size Loans range from ₹10 lakh up to ₹1 crore, covering working capital as well as the project cost.
- Sectors Loans fund greenfield enterprises in manufacturing, services, trading, and activities allied to agriculture.
3. Refinance Runs Through SIDBI
- Refinance Stand Up India carries a dedicated refinance window operated through the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
- Initial Corpus This refinance window started with an initial allocation of ₹10,000 crore.
- Purpose Refinance lets participating banks lend more readily, since SIDBI backs the funds behind their loans.
4. Credit Guarantee Cover
- NCGTC A separate ₹5,000 crore credit guarantee corpus, run through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC), backs these loans.
- Why This guarantee reduces the collateral risk banks would otherwise pass on to first-time SC/ST and women borrowers.
📋 Good to Know
5. The Standupmitra Portal
- Portal Standupmitra.in is the scheme’s own web portal, developed by SIDBI, for online registration.
- Handholding It connects applicants to a network of handholding agencies, for mentoring, skilling, and market-linkage support, before and during the loan.
6. Extended Timeline
- Extension The scheme’s original operational period was extended, and remained active through the year 2025.
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⚡ Great to Know
7. How Stand Up India Differs from MUDRA
- Contrast Stand Up India targets larger, first-time greenfield loans (₹10 lakh–₹1 crore) for SC/ST and women entrepreneurs specifically. IndEco0227 — PM MUDRA Yojana instead funds much smaller, open-to-all micro-enterprise loans, up to ₹20 lakh.
📰 Current Affairs
Scheme’s Cycle Concluded, 31 March 2025
- Data As on 31 March 2025, Stand-Up India had sanctioned 2.75 lakh loans. The cumulative value was ₹62,790 crore, its final tally for that approved operational cycle. (Source: PIB, via IndEco0132)
📝 Previous Year Question
UPSC CSP 2016 — Purpose and Refinance Mechanism
- UPSC 2016 Asked as: “With reference to ‘Stand Up India Scheme’, which of the following statements is/are correct?”, on its SC/ST-and-women purpose and its SIDBI refinance window. The correct answer is (c) Both 1 and 2. See UPSC CSP 2016 GS Paper I, Q26.
Related PYQ — Branch-Level Borrower Requirement
- Related A separate companion question also covers the scheme: which borrowers every Scheduled Commercial Bank branch must support.
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