ECLGS 5.0 Explained: ₹2.55 Lakh Crore Credit Guarantee Push

The correct answer is ₹2.55 lakh crore. The backgrounder states that the scheme, approved on 5 May 2026 and implemented by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company, aims to facilitate an additional credit flow of up to that amount, and that the scheme runs till 31 March 2027 or till guarantees of the same value are issued, whichever comes earlier. Option C is the trap here, because ₹3.68 lakh crore is a real figure from the same release, but it belongs to the earlier phases: from ECLGS 1.0 to 4.0 the scheme issued 1.19 crore guarantees worth ₹3.68 lakh crore before closing on 31 March 2023. Options A and D are round figures with no support in the release. Keep the two numbers in separate lines while revising: ₹2.55 lakh crore is the target of the present phase, and ₹3.68 lakh crore is what the first four phases actually delivered. The progress figure for the present phase, as on 20 August 2026, was ₹2,50,024 crore of guarantees.

The correct answer is 100 per cent. The release separates the two levels of cover clearly: eligible MSMEs get a full guarantee, while eligible non-MSME borrowers get 90 per cent cover. The same 90 per cent applies to loans given to eligible scheduled passenger airlines. Option C is therefore the most tempting wrong answer, because 90 per cent is a genuine figure from the scheme but belongs to the other categories of borrower. Options A and B appear nowhere in the release. Two more points are worth carrying along with this item. First, no guarantee fee is payable by the Member Lending Institutions under the scheme. Second, the cover was 100 per cent in the original ECLGS launched in 2020 under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package as well, so the full cover for small borrowers is a continuing feature of the scheme rather than something new. Additional credit for MSMEs is capped at 20 per cent of peak working capital outstanding, subject to ₹100 crore per borrower.

The correct answer is the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company, usually written as NCGTC. The backgrounder names it as the implementing agency and adds that borrowers must satisfy the eligibility conditions prescribed by NCGTC, including account status and other lending norms. Option A is the most attractive distractor, because the Reserve Bank of India does appear in the release, but only in the explanation of the benchmarks: EBLR and MCLR are the rates tied to the central bank, and MSME loans under the scheme are priced off EBLR while non-MSME loans are priced off MCLR. Options B and D name development finance institutions that run their own refinance and guarantee programmes for small industry and for agriculture, which is why they look plausible, but neither of them implements this scheme. Remember the chain of delivery: NCGTC gives the guarantee, Member Lending Institutions give the loan, and the borrower applies through the Jan Samarth Portal.