ECLGS 5.0: Extra Credit Support for Your Business

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0 is a scheme launched by the Government of India to provide credit guarantee coverage for MSMEs (100%) and non-MSMEs as well as scheduled passenger airline (referred hereinafter as airline sector (90%), to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) for the amount in default under additional credit facility extended to the eligible borrowers to tide over any short-term liquidity mismatches in view of West Asia crisis

The Scheme shall be managed by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC), a wholly owned company of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, as a Trustee.

The Scheme has been formulated as a targeted policy response to the exceptional circumstances arising from the West Asia crisis. It seeks to extend critical support to borrowers by incentivising Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) to provide additional working capital term loans for business purposes, thereby enabling them to navigate the prevailing economic challenges more effectively.

The Scheme would be applicable to all loans sanctioned during the period from the date of issue of these guidelines by NCGTC up to 31.03.2027 or till guarantees for an amount of ₹2,55,000 crore are issued, whichever is earlier. The credit facilities to be released in tranches of Rs 1,05,000 Crore (including ₹5,000 crore airline sector). Subsequent tranches up to the overall limit of ₹2,55,000 Crore to be released based on assessing the situation as they arise.

MSMEs/Non-MSMEs
(except Airline sector) Up to 20% of the peak fund-based working capital outstanding during the fourth quarter of FY 2025–26. (i.e., between 01.01.2026 and 31.03.2026 both days inclusive), subject to a maximum of ₹100 crore per borrower across all MLIs

Airline Sector
Up to 100% of the total peak credit outstanding (fund-based and non-fund-based) during the fourth quarter of FY 2025–26. (i.e between 01.01.2026 and 31.03.2026 both days inclusive), subject to a maximum of ₹1500 crore per borrower across all MLIs. (Of this, any amount beyond ₹1,000 crore and up to ₹1,500 crore shall be permitted only with an equal amount of equity contribution from the promoters/owners).

It refers to the highest level of working capital usage by the borrower during Q4 FY 2025–26. This acts as the benchmark for calculating eligible additional funding.

Only regular sanctioned credit exposure as per the bank’s credit policy system should be considered under the scheme.

The entire funding provided under the scheme shall be provided with a 100% guarantee coverage for MSMEs and 90% guarantee coverage for Non-MSMEs and the Airlines Sector.

No fresh collateral/personal/corporate guarantee shall be sought for credit facility under the Scheme for MSME/Non-MSMEs (except Airlines Sector).

The facility sanctioned under the Scheme shall rank second charge with the existing credit facilities (primary and collateral) and the MLIs shall ensure to create charge on existing securities (primary as well as collateral) and on assets created out the loan under ECLGS 5.0, within 90 days from the date of first disbursement.

The scheme is admissible for all sectors if the borrower is an MSME. However, for non-MSME borrowers, the following sectors fall under the negative list:

 - NBFCs
 - Power (Generation, transmission and distribution)
 - Telecom Service Providers
 - Sugar & Ethanol Manufacturing
 - Information Technology Companies
 - Paper & Paper products
 - Educational Institutions
 - Beverages (excluding Tea and Coffee) and Tobacco

If a borrower is operating under multiple sectors and if any ineligible sector is also part of their business, eligibility will be arrived by the bank based on their proportionate turnover in eligible sector for the FY ending 31.03.2026

No, NCGTC will not charge any guarantee fee under the Scheme.

Since additional credit is to be provided to existing customers, no processing fee shall be charged by lenders for the ECLGS facility.

No pre-payment penalty should be charged on early repayment of the loan under the Scheme.

Under the scheme, MLIs are to offer loans up to 20% of peak fund based working capital outstanding, as defined in the scheme, depending on the assessed requirement of the customer for working capital.

For the purpose of calculating fund-based working capital outstanding, the credit facilities to be considered shall include Cash Credit (CC), Overdraft (OD), Working Capital Demand Loan (WCDL), Working Capital Term Loan (WCTL), etc

The scheme is only for existing borrowers on the books of the MLIs as on the reference date, i.e., March 31, 2026.

Yes. The account has to be standard, not SMA-2, as of 31.03.2026, across all lenders.

If the underlying loan is unsecured in nature, no charge is required to be created/extended.

Yes, interest rates shall be capped as under:

Banks/FIs:

MSMEs – EBLR+0.75% with a cap of 9% p.a.
Non-MSMEs – MCLR+0.75% with a cap of 9% p.a.

(For MSMEs, if the bank uses any other nomenclature instead of EBLR for lending to MSMEs or any other standard or uniform benchmark as per their internal policy for pricing of MSMEs as per RBI guidelines, the same can be used as the benchmark for deciding the applicable interest rate).

NBFCs: ROI shall not exceed 13% p.a.

For Airline sector: To be decided as per the board approved policy of the lending institution.

EBLR for the purpose will be the rate as defined by the bank in their credit policy/pricing policy, as External Benchmark + Spread as applicable to MSME loans.

All Member Lending Institutions may register themselves under the said scheme by submitting a signed undertaking (format given on website www.ncgtc.in) along with a certified copy of the Board Resolution. Upon successful registration, the eligible lender shall be known as Member Lending Institution (MLI), and its login credentials shall be created and shared, based on which it can apply for guarantee cover on loans sanctioned on NCGTC’s portal.

In order to facilitate the borrowers, the JanSamarth Portal, administered by PSB Alliance, is identified as an exclusive platform for the application of the ECLGS 5.0 facility. The concerned stakeholders are advised to refer to the below mentioned steps for the issuance of guarantee on the Portal :

I. Borrower Application Process

1. A borrower shall mandatorily apply on the JanSamarth portal, self-declaring the required details in the application form.

2. The application will then be forwarded to the lender’s branch as selected by the borrower during the loan application journey.

3. The lender shall assess the borrower’s eligibility under the Scheme and, upon satisfactory evaluation, sanction the credit facility.

4. The Sanction details updated by the lender on JanSamarth portal shall be shared on real-time basis with NCGTC.

II. For Lenders

1. Lenders that are already on-boarded with the JanSamarth Portal will receive borrower applications submitted through the portal to the respective branch, as selected by borrower during the application journey.

2. Lenders that are not yet onboarded onto JanSamarth portal, are required to partner with JanSamarth to participate in the scheme by sending an email request to “avp.projectmanager2@psballiance.com”. (https://www.jansamarth.in/our- partners)

3. Upon completion of onboarding, the lender's details shall be updated on the JanSamarth portal, and accordingly, borrowers can apply by selecting the onboarded lenders.

III. Issue of Fresh Guarantee (Sanction Loan)

Automatic Approval: Guarantee needs to be lodged by the MLI as per the template provided by NCGTC. The system would automatically validate the guarantee lodgement details, along with the loan application number and sanction details, as received from the Jan Samarth portal, and generate a Credit Guarantee Permanent Account Number for the lender's future reference.

IV. Tranche Disbursement Details

Reporting Disbursements: For each tranche of the loan disbursed, the MLI must enter the disbursement details into the NCGTC portal immediately.

The last date for sanction under the scheme is March 31, 2027. The entire disbursement under fund-based facilities must be completed on or before June 30, 2027. For non-fund-based facilities, at least the first tranche must be utilised on or before June 30, 2027.

NPA Marking –
NPA marking module shall be available on the portal under Claim & Settlement, wherein provision shall be made for NPA marking. MLI needs to mark NPA within 90 days of the account being classified as NPA.

Interim Claim –
The MLI shall furnish the details of the NPA account while lodging an interim claim, along with the following documents:

i. Sanction letter of facility under the Scheme;

ii. Loan ledger of the borrower’s existing facility for the fourth quarter of FY 2025–26 (i.e., from 01.01.2026 to 31.03.2026, both days inclusive).

iii. Loan Ledger of facility under the Scheme till date of claim, indicating date-wise outstanding balance;

iv. Credit Bureau report/data evidencing status of account on reference date i.e. March 31, 2026

v. Document evidencing the Legal action taken The MLI shall furnish the details of the NPA account, including the amount in default, the status of legal action, etc., on the claim lodgement page of the portal.

The MLI would also be required to upload Management Certificate certifying certain details about the account. On submission of this claim, NCGTC would initiate action to approve the claim request and arrange to pay 75% of the amount in default within 30 days of the claim date, provided all requisite documents are submitted and the claim is found to be in order and complete in all respects. This shall be treated as an Interim Claim.

The MLI shall also furnish details of the recoveries in the account and after adjusting such recoveries towards the legal costs incurred by them, remit the balance amount to NCGTC within 30 days, failing which MLI shall be required to pay the recovered amount along with interest at 4% over and above the prevailing repo rate for the period for which payment remains outstanding beyond the expiry of the said period of 30 days.

Final Claim-
The balance 25 per cent of the guaranteed amount will be paid upon conclusion of recovery proceedings or three years from the date of settlement of the first claim, whichever is earlier.

Mere issue of recall notice shall not be construed as initiation of legal action. Legal action shall be considered as initiated upon filing of application in Lok Adalat/Civil Court /DRT or after action pursuant to the notice issued under Section 13(4) of SARFAESI Act, 2002 or after admission of application under NCLT or such other action as may be decided by NCGTC from time to time.

Release of existing securities is not permitted under the scheme. Replacement of security is permitted, subject to the MLI ensuring that the new securities are clear/marketable and not below the value of the existing securities until the loan under the scheme is extinguished.

The MLI should refund the claim amount/recoveries immediately. Delay in refund of the amount may result in such other action as deemed fit by NCGTC.

As the claim (whether interim or final) has already been made, the account is closed in the live guarantees system; therefore, continuation of the guarantee on the said account is not possible. If, however, the claim has not been made and the account turns Standard, provision for continuation of the guarantee and reversal of NPA status has been made in the system.

The scheme parameters have been clearly defined in the Scheme guidelines and FAQs shall be issued from time to time for further clarification. It is the responsibility of the MLI to check the eligibility of the borrower and satisfy itself and sanctioning of credit facility should be based on the credit policy of the MLI.

No.

Suitable interface shall be created on the portal of NCGTC to enable the same. However, please note that there shall not be any change in repayment schedule, which should be as per scheme guidelines and original sanction terms of MLI ‘A’, even after the takeover.

Borrowers who have availed additional credit facility under Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE) shall be eligible under the ECLGS 5.0 after netting off the limit already availed under CGSE.

Where the ECLGS 5.0 facility involves the creation of a second charge on existing securities charged to another lender, the lending institution may seek NOC from the existing charge holder. However, if no adverse communication is received from the existing lender within the stipulated period of 7 working days, the consent may be treated as “deemed NOC.”

As an exception, such cases can be considered eligible for assistance under ECLGS 5.0, if overdues in respect of credit card/savings account/current account of the borrower do not exceed 1% of the loan amount extended under ECLGS 5.0 facility, the overdue amounts are regularised prior to assistance being provided under ECLGS 5.0 and are within the materiality concept being followed by the MLI concerned.

In case the credit facility is covered by any existing or future schemes/guarantees launched by NCGTC, and becomes non-performing, no provision needs to be made towards the guaranteed portion. The amount outstanding, in excess of the guaranteed portion, should be provided for as per the extant RBI guidelines on provisioning for non- performing assets.

Guarantee cover on non-fund-based facility shall reduce each year proportionately, and hence the MLI should apply the risk weight on the outstanding facility accordingly.

Yes. The borrower can avail the limits from ‘y’ bank based on the peak FBWC outstanding with ‘x’ bank during Q4, FY 26. The same shall be verified by ‘y’ bank based on the statement of account and documents received at the time of takeover of limits. The customer should be existing customer of “Y” bank as on 31/3/2026

Yes. For MSME borrowers seeking assistance under ECLGS 5.0, UDYAM Registration is generally required as proof of MSME status. Without UDYAM registration, the borrower may not be treated as an MSME for eligibility purposes.

Further, Udyam Assist Certificate (UAC) issued by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises is also accepted as large number of borrowers from the Micro Enterprises category have Udyam Assist Certificate (UAC) as a unique identification proof of their business enterprises.

Accordingly, borrowers holding either a valid UDYAM Registration or UAC can be considered for ECLGS 5.0 assistance.

Yes. In consortium or multiple banking arrangements, a borrower may avail funding under ECLGS 5.0 from a specific lender for an amount exceeding that lender’s proportional 20% share of the total eligible assistance.

However, in such cases, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) must be obtained from the other lender(s) whose proportionate share under ECLGS is proposed to be availed from the specific lender.