Finance minister Arun Jaitley launched two funds by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), one for funding start-ups in India and another to aid small enterprises. The funds are Rs 2,000-crore India Aspiration Fund (IAF) and SIDBI Make In India Loan For Enterprises (SMILE) scheme with an investment size of Rs 10,000 crore.
India Aspiration Fund
- Aim is to catalyse tens of thousands of crores of equity investment into start-ups and MSMEs.
- It will also create employment for lakhs of persons, mostly educated youth, over the next four to five years.
- The India Aspiration Fund is a fund of funds that would invest in venture capital funds for meeting the equity requirement of MSME start-ups.
- Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) will be a partner and co-investor in the fund.
SMILE
- SMILE stands for SIDBI Make in India Loan for Enterprises (SMILE).
- It was announced in the Union budget in February.
- The fund will provide soft term loans and loans in the nature of quasi-equity to MSMEs to meet debt-to-equity norms and pursue growth opportunities in existing MSMEs.
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