The MSME Ministry’s Rs 50,000-crore Self-Reliant India (SRI) fund, which is managed by the public lender State Bank of India’s (SBI) private equity arm SBICAP Ventures (SVL), has invested Rs 4,885 crore in MSMEs so far. According to the data shared by Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Minister of State in the MSME Ministry in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, “the total equity infusion under the SRI Fund for MSME reached Rs 4,885 crore including the Government of India contribution of Rs 529.40 crore since the inception of the fund.”
Till January this year, Rs 3,000 crore were invested in more than 140 MSMEs, SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara had said at an event on January 23.
As part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package, Rs 50,000 crore equity infusion for MSMEs through Fund of Funds was announced. “In compliance with the announcement, Self Reliant India (SRI) Fund was set up to infuse Rs 50,000 crore as equity funding in MSMEs which have the potential and viability to grow and become large units. Under this fund, there is a provision of Rs 10,000 Crore from the government and Rs 40,000 crore through private equity and venture capital funds,” Verma said.
The fund operates through a mother-fund and daughter-fund structure for equity or quasi-equity investments. NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited (NVCFL) which operates as Mother Fund in SRI Fund implementation, was registered as a Category-II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with SEBI on September 1, 2021.
Importantly, MSME Minister Narayan Rane had informed the Lok Sabha in February last year that around 5,000 MSMEs are expected to benefit from the SRI fund. “Assuming an average investment of Rs 10 crore per MSME, approximately 5,000 MSMEs are likely to be benefited,” Rane had said. The fund aims to enhance equity support to MSMEs and improve listing on stock exchanges as more enterprises get into the formal sector.
The fund’s tenure is 15 years which may be extended as per AIF guidelines and subject to approvals from NVCFL and contributors.