New Delhi, Jun 7 (IANS): Public sector banks (PSB) have so far sanctioned Rs 17,705.64 crore worth of loans under the 100 per cent government guaranteed Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme.

The scheme is part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package. As per the government, banks would provide collateral-freeloans to the eligible MSMEs loans upto Rs 3 lakh crore in total in a bid to overcome the financial crisis caused due to the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide lockdown.

As of Friday, June 5, out of the sanctioned amount, Rs 8,320.24 crore has been disbursed, said a tweet by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's office.

"As of 5 June 2020, #PSBs have sanctioned loans worth Rs 17,705.64 crore under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, out of which Rs 8320.24 crore have been disbursed," said the tweet.

Data shared in the tweet showed that the State Bank of India (SBI) contributed a major chunk of the amount sanctioned and disbursed so far. SBI, as of Friday sanctioned a total of Rs 11,701.06 crore and disbursed Rs 6,084.71 crore of loans.

The sanctioned and disbursed amounts under the 100 per cent government guaranteed scheme are the highest in Tamil Nadu so far. A total of Rs 2,018.89 crore has been sanctioned so far to 33,725 accounts of MSMEs in the state and Rs 1,325.04 crore has been disbursed to 18,867 accounts.

Uttar Pradesh, on the other hand has recorded the highest number of MSMEs to have been sanctioned and disbursed credit under the scheme so far. A total of 43,541 accounts have been sanctioned with Rs 1,960.97 crore and 21,728 MSMEs have received loans worth Rs 852.05 crore, the data sourced from PSBs showed.