New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) MSME-focused fintech Progcap on Tuesday said it has launched a programme to offer collateral-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to women-led small and medium enterprises in the next three years.The fintech, which is backed by Peak XV (previously Sequoia Capital India), Google and Tiger Capital, among others, seeks to empower 10,000 women-led MSMEs in semi-urban and rural India by FY27, Progcap said in a statement.

“Progcap has introduced ProgShakti Development Program, wherein women entrepreneurs can access loans of up to Rs 10 lakh and get certified through capacity-building knowledge sessions helping them grow their businesses,” it said.

Aligned with the government’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision for 2047 and the goal of increasing women’s workforce participation to 70 per cent, Progcap’s initiative offers customised credit to women-led enterprises and eliminates the need for a male co-applicant while assessing the creditworthiness, Progcap said.

Founded by Pallavi Shrivastava and Himanshu Chandra, Progcap provides an end-to-end platform offering finance, technology and commerce solutions to MSMEs. It has facilitated over USD 4 billion financing, impacting over 100,000 customers.

Progcap also plans to conduct over 100 workshops across India, offering training in business management and financial planning.

Co-founder Pallavi Shrivastava said that over the next two years, Progcap aims to increase the share of women-led businesses in its portfolio from the current sub-20 per cent to 30 per cent.

“With the launch of ProgShakti, our goal is to ensure more women step forward as real business operators by providing tailored credit solutions, equipping them with the business knowledge, skills, and capacity-building support needed to sustain and grow their enterprises,” Shrivastava said. PTI MR HVA

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will on Thursday hold discussions with export promotion councils on trade issues amid the threat of imposition of reciprocal tariffs by the US, an industry official said

In the meeting, exporters are expected to raise issues pertaining to the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US, the official added.

The meeting assumes significance as the minister has recently returned from Washington after holding trade talks with his US counterparts.

An industry official said the exporting community is concerned about the threat of the US to impose reciprocal tariffs as it could impact India’s exports to America, which is its largest trading partner.

However, they added that if the US would give duty concessions under the proposed trade agreement to India, sectors like textiles, handicrafts, leather, and gems and jewellery would get a boost.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that India should open its agri sector also.

India has by and large protected the agri sector in all the free trade agreements as the segment involves the protection of the interest of millions of domestic farmers, who are engaged in sustenance farming.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal on Monday told a Parliamentary panel that negotiations are still on and no agreement on trade tariffs has been reached so far between India and the US.

The Commerce Secretary briefed the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs on US President Donald Trump’s recent claims that India has agreed to reduce its tariffs “way down” while Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri briefed the committee on China and Europe.

India has not committed to anything on trade tariffs to the US, he told the panel.

Last week, US President Donald Trump said India has agreed to cut its tariffs “way down” as he reiterated his claim that the country charges America massive tariffs that make it difficult to sell products there.

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) India has extended duty-free imports of Urad for another year until March 31, 2026, according to a government notification.

The provision was earlier in place until the end of March this year.

Myanmar is the main exporting country of Urad to India.

“The free import policy of Urad stands extended up to March 31, 2026,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification.

The move would help in stabilising prices of the commodity in the domestic markets.

The imports stood at USD 601.12 million during April-November this fiscal. Out of this value, USD 549 million worth of the grain was imported from Myanmar.

The imports stood at USD 663.21 million in 2023-24 (USD 646.6 million from Myanmar). Besides Myanmar, India imports Urad from Singapore, Thailand, and Brazil.

The bilateral trade between India and Myanmar was USD 1.74 billion in the last fiscal. It was USD 1.76 billion in 2022-23. The trade gap is in favour of Myanmar.

The major Urad producing states are Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.

India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of urad.

Kolkata, Mar 11 (PTI) The Centre has drawn up a slew of schemes, in the form of subsidies, to support the food processing industry, from micro to large units, a senior official said.

Secretary of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Subrata Gupta, said that a lot of food, particularly fruits and vegetables, go to waste for not being processed to increase their shelf life.

“On an average, processing of food in various sectors is only around 10 per cent. This is a matter of concern. There is a need to process and preserve food to curb wastage,” Gupta said at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here on Monday night.

The ministry is supporting the sector with a slew of schemes for micro, medium and large units, he said.

“There is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs to invest in the food processing sector,” Gupta added.

The central government has also set aside an amount of Rs 400 crore for the small and medium food processing units, he said.

The official said large units need to be supported for establishing the presence in overseas markets.

Joint secretary with the ministry, D Praveen, said the government has devised tailor-made schemes for micro entrepreneurs.

He said seed capital is provided to self-help groups (SHGs) for setting up micro units.

“In West Bengal, 50 projects in the small and medium sector will be given support in the form of subsidy by the Centre,” he said.

The ministry will also organise the World Food India exhibition in Delhi in September to showcase the food processing sector of the country, he added.

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Falling for the third day in a row, gold prices retreated by Rs 150 to Rs 88,750 per 10 grams in the national capital on Monday amid a weak trend in the overseas markets, according to the All India Sarafa Association.

The precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity had settled lower at Rs 88,900 per 10 grams on Friday.

Gold of 99.5 per cent purity slipped by Rs 150 to Rs 88,350 per 10 grams from the previous close of Rs 88,500 per 10 grams.

Silver prices also declined by Rs 250 to Rs 99,250 per kg, snapping the four-day winning run.

Comex gold futures for April delivery fell 0.32 per cent to USD 2,904.80 per ounce in the international markets. Meanwhile, spot gold also fell 0.13 per cent to USD 2,905.31 per ounce.

“Gold and silver saw profit-taking from recent highs due to a rebound in US bond yields. The US administration’s decision to delay Mexico tariffs by a month added to the cautious sentiment. However, a weakening dollar, which fell to a five-month low and recorded its worst weekly decline since November 2022, provided tailwinds for gold and silver,” Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Silver futures for May delivery traded lower at USD 32.80 per ounce.