Lenders in Bengal have received close to 70,000 applications under the Bhavishyat Credit Card scheme announced by the state government in the budget in February. The scheme, which offers a 15 per cent credit guarantee by the state and a 85 per cent guarantee under Credit Guarantee Trust for SMEs, has come into effect from April 1.

The state budget said individuals in the age group of 18-45 would be provided a loan of up to Rs 5 lakh under the scheme through banks for setting up MSME units. The state government will provide subsidies up to 10 per cent of the project cost with a maximum cap of Rs 25,000 along with the guarantee of 15 per cent.

The government has allocated Rs 350 crore in the budget for the scheme. “So far in the last three months, close to 70,000 cases have been received and banks have processed close to a third of them and I am sure we would be able to achieve our target,” said Rajesh Pandey, principal secretary, MSME and textile, Bengal, on Tuesday at an event organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce.