Credit and finance for MSMEs: Retail and wholesale trade in the country was deployed Rs 8.37 lakh crore in gross bank credit in May this year, growing year-on-year (YoY) by 17.5 per cent from Rs 7.13 lakh crore raised in May 2022, as per the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on bank credit deployment to various sectors. In contrast, the YoY credit growth to retail and wholesale trade in April 2023 stood at 18.2 per cent to Rs 8.34 lakh crore from Rs 7.06 lakh crore in April 2022.
While retail traders were deployed Rs 4.18 lakh crore in bank credit in May, up 21.8 per cent from Rs 3.43 lakh crore deployed in May 2022, wholesale traders (other than in food procurement) raised Rs 4.19 lakh crore in May, up by 13.4 per cent from Rs 3.69 lakh crore raised in May 2022. The overall amount deployed to both wholesale and retail trade was 6 per cent of Rs 138.57 lakh crore deployed in total non-food credit deployed across sectors.
Retail and wholesale trade was brought under the definition of MSME in July 2021 to benefit them under priority sector lending from banks. As a result, retailers and wholesalers were mandated to register on the government’s MSME registration portal Udyam. So far, 2.04 crore MSMEs were registered on the Udyam portal, of which 1.26 crore were in services and 46.27 lakh in manufacturing. However, data on the number of retailers and wholesalers registered on the portal wasn’t available on the portal.
Also read: Retailers, wholesalers top MSME registrations on Udyam portal: Govt data
Overall, Rs 20.20 lakh crore bank credit under priority sector lending — 14.5 per cent of India’s total non-food bank credit worth Rs 138.5 lakh crore — was deployed in the MSME sector in May 2023 in comparison to Rs 19.84 lakh crore – 14.3 per cent of Rs 138.36 lakh crore non-food bank credit deployed in April 2023.