The Congress has alleged that the 59-minute loan scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with fanfare a few days ago was an ingenious ploy to enrich crony capitalists at the expense of public institutions and asked the government to immediately stop the “loot”.

Gourav Vallabh, a Congress spokesperson and a professor of finance, told a media conference: “This loan scheme is managed by a private Ahmedabad-based company, Capita World, run by people close to the Prime Minister. This company was incorporated on March 30, 2015, and as per the 2017 financials, its income is Rs 15,000. It had operations till then.”

The Telegraph could not contact any official of Capita World for comment.

Vallabh said: “The applicants are directed to pay Rs 1,180 (Rs 1,000 service charge plus GST at the rate of 18 per cent). Based on the euphoric response, if one million MSMEs apply for loan, the company collects Rs 100 crore. This is prior to even consideration of applications by the banks. Why can’t the banks do this job? Apart from this, the Capita World platform would earn a processing fee of 0.35 per cent to 0.50 per cent plus GST from the banks. This is another revenue-generating mode for a private entity just providing a lead generation platform.”

The credit risk profiling and due diligence are to be done by the banks after in-principle sanction. Vallabh said: “Although the government-backed Sidbi is a partner, `https://www.psbloansin59minutes.com/` is owned by Capita World. All SMS confirmation/mails are coming from the Capita World platform. The tender norms were also violated as five-year experience and Rs 100 crore capital were required for eligibility.”

Vallabh claimed that the scheme, sold by the Prime Minister on November 2 as a radical measure for MSMEs which were destroyed by demonetisation, had already been launched by finance minister Arun Jaitley on September 25, this year.

He distributed a finance ministry media release to buttress his charge.

The Congress spokesperson said the company’s directors are “Jinand Vikasbhai Shah, Vikas Manilal Shah and Sandeep Diddi. Akhil Handa. Manoj Mittal, Narayanan Sadanandan, Mustafa Mohammed are nominee directors. Akhil Handa handled Modi’s campaign in 2014. He is also associated with many other companies and banks. Advisers to Capita World are Vinod Modha, who is also adviser to Nirma and Mudra (previously an Anil Ambani group company), and Mohan Tanksale, former CMD of Central Bank of India and CEO of the Indian Banks Association”.

Vallabh said the company had direct access to the GST portal while significantly stronger banks do not have this facility. “What is the compulsion to provide such an access to a private company? They are also privy to banking information through bank statements which they get access to. Why is such critical information being provided to private companies through the conduit of PSU banks?” he asked.

The Congress demanded that the agreement with the private party to “loot” the MSME sector be cancelled with immediate effect and an inquiry into the role of the Prime Minister’s Office and the finance minister initiated by an independent judicial body.