Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the principal financial institution engaged in the promotion, financing, and development of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), has extended the validity of the Swavalamban Crisis Responsive Fund (SCRF) to facilitate free onboarding of more Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The plan is to onboard over 13,500 MSMEs by March 31, 2021, as against the earlier envisaged 10,000. The last date of drawdown of the fund will now be up to May 31, 2021.

SCRF was set up in June 2020 to support onboarding of the MSMEs and waiving-off their joining/registration fees on the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform. Receivables Exchange of India Ltd. (RXIL), M1xchange, and Invoicemart are the three TReDS platforms that help MSMEs gain access to working capital through invoice discounting via multiple financiers. As of November 30, 2020, a total of 6,545 MSMEs have been given free onboarding facility on TReDS through RXIL, M1xchange, and Invoicemart.

TReDS is an electronic platform where receivables of MSMEs drawn against buyers (large corporates, Public Sector Undertakings, Government Departments, etc.) are financed through multiple financiers at competitive rates through an auction mechanism. TReDS is an answer to the cash flow issues of the MSMEs, particularly in the COVID-19 crisis. In order to induce MSMEs to increasingly join on TReDS and leverage the gains, all three platforms are partners in this initiative.