Feature
World Bank signs $500 mn loan agreement with India
New Delhi: The World Bank said on Tuesday it has signed a $500 million loan agreement with India to improve financial access for the country’s small-scale business enterprises in the manufacturing and services domain.
“Lack of adequate finance is one of the biggest challenges facing the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector. Financial institutions have limited their exposure to the sector due to a higher risk perception, information asymmetry, high transaction costs and lack of collateral,” the World Bank said in a statement.
The project under the Indian government and World Bank will support MSMEs through direct finance options from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the apex financial institution for promotion, financing and development of MSMEs in India, as also through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) across three components.
“These include support to start-up debt financing and risk capital as well as support to service and manufacturing sector financing models,” it said.
According to the global financier, the MSME census of 2006-07 estimated that about 87 percent of MSMEs did not have any access to finance and credit towards this segment accounted for only 13-15 percent of institutionalised credit.
According to the World Bank, the MSMEs account for over 80 percent of total industrial enterprises producing over 8,000 value-added products and employ an estimated 60 million people in India.
“It contributes around 45 percent to manufacturing output and about 40 percent to exports, both directly and indirectly. In addition, over 50 percent of MSMEs are rural enterprises and widely distributed across low-income states making them an important sector for promoting economic growth and poverty reduction,” the statement said.
The World Bank said with eight million people entering the labour force every year, MSMEs have the potential to create many new and innovative jobs.
“However, for these ideas to take shape, MSMEs will need easier access to finance. This project will develop innovative products that address such constraints and help them achieve their true potential,” World Bank’s country director in India, Onno Ruhl said.
The project will support MSMEs in the manufacturing sector through innovative financial products including Loan Extension Services and cluster financing including women-led clusters.
“Particular focus will be to expand manufacturing activity in financially underserved areas, including low-income states especially through re-financing, as banks and other PFIs have a deeper network in these states,” the global financial institution noted.
The loan to India has a five-year grace period, and a maturity of 10 years.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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