Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday lauded Rs 3 lakh crore collateral-free loans announced by the Ministry of Finance as a stimulus package, saying that entrepreneurs don't need free money but they certainly need 'hassle-free' money.
"Appreciate one thing that no entrepreneur needs free money. They need hassle-free money. With this decision, the Central government has decided to handhold MSMEs by giving them Rs 3 lakh crore," Pradhan told .
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced that a series of liquidity measures for millions of small businesses reeling under the impact of COVID-19 lockdown including collateral-free automatic loans worth Rs 3 lakh crore.
Pradhan said that the government will give priority to Indian entrepreneurs.
"They can bring technology from outside and tie-up with global compes and can bring low-cost capital. We are going to occupy a place in the global supply chain," added the Union Minister.
On no global tender for up to Rs 200 core project and what does it mean for his ministry, Pradhan said that all PSUs are assigned to give priority to MSMEs.
"The PM has given priority to local production and make this global. Clusters for production houses will be given collateral loan assurances and marketing assurance of their products. Beneficiaries will be labourers, working-class, and factory workers as well. This is a win-win situation for everyone," added Pradhan.
Talking about the statements of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Pradhan said that the opposition is doing criticism for the sake of doing so.
"Our Opposition is doing opposition for the sake of opposition. They never thought Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take care of the common man in this big bang. Nobody did. I read the statement by Mr PChidambaram. He could visualise a package of 7-8 lakh core only. But the PM announced Rs 20 lakh core stimulus. They can only criticise," added Pradhan.
( With inputs from ANI )