
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, approved a five-year extension of the Stand-Up India Scheme until 31 March 2031. The scheme aims to provide financial assistance to an additional 2.5 lakh women, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs. The Cabinet also approved a credit guarantee corpus of ₹4,111 crore to support lending under the scheme.

Launched in April 2016, Stand-Up India has facilitated loans to more than 2.75 lakh entrepreneurs. Eligible borrowers can receive loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore, covering up to 85 per cent of project costs, for manufacturing, services, trading and agriculture-allied enterprises. The scheme provides credit guarantee coverage of 85 per cent of the loan amount, with a standard guarantee fee of 0.50 per cent.
The extension is intended to deepen financial inclusion and encourage self-employment among underserved communities. The target over the next five years is to reach a minimum of 2.5 lakh additional beneficiaries.
The four sources carry virtually identical coverage of the Cabinet decision, each reproducing the official statement with the same figures: a five-year extension to 31 March 2031, a ₹4,111 crore credit guarantee corpus, a target of 2.5 lakh additional beneficiaries and a tally of 2.75 lakh loans disbursed since 2016. DD India, PM India, The Hans India and Sarkaritel all lead with the extension and the corpus, attributing nothing but endorsement from government channels. No source presents independent comment, critique or beneficiary reaction, so the coverage is uniform straight reporting of the press release. The substantive open point is whether the scheme can reach its ambitious target after having already covered 2.75 lakh entrepreneurs in a decade.
Coverage: 4 sources, 4 neutral
Sources (4): ddindia.co.in (neutral report), pmindia.gov.in (neutral report), thehansindia.com (neutral report), sarkaritel.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 4 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
Update, 11 November 2026: this story now draws on 4 sources.