National SC-ST Hub Procurement Rises Nearly 39-Fold in a Decade

The correct answer is the National Small Industries Corporation. The National SC-ST Hub was launched on 18 October 2016 and is implemented through NSIC, which also runs the Single Point Registration Scheme that gives registered micro and small enterprises free tender sets and exemption from Earnest Money Deposit. Option A, the Small Industries Development Bank of India, is the development finance institution for the small enterprise sector and lends to it, but it is not the implementing agency named for this scheme. Option C, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, promotes khadi and village industries and runs separate employment programmes. Option D, the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation, works on credit for Scheduled Caste beneficiaries under a different ministry. For the examination, pair the scheme with the MSME Ministry as its parent and NSIC as its implementing arm.

The correct answer is Rs 4,013.42 crore, procured in 2025-26 from 12,524 micro and small enterprises. The figure matters because it marks a rise of nearly 39 times over the Rs 99.37 crore recorded in 2015-16, which is option A and therefore the starting point rather than the latest number. Option B, Rs 356.10 crore, is the amount disbursed under the Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme since 2016 and up to March 2026, which supported 3,160 enterprises in 233 districts across 27 States and Union Territories, so it belongs to a single component and not to procurement. Option C is a near miss designed to catch a half-remembered figure. Candidates should also recall the policy behind the growth: 25 per cent of annual purchases of Central Ministries, Departments and CPSEs must come from MSEs, with 4 per cent earmarked for SC/ST-owned units.

The correct answer is 4 per cent. Central Ministries, Departments and Central Public Sector Enterprises are required to procure 25 per cent of their annual purchases from micro and small enterprises, and within that requirement 4 per cent of total procurement is earmarked for enterprises owned by Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs. Option D, 25 per cent, is the wider MSE obligation and is the commonest trap in this question, so the two numbers must be kept apart. Options A and C, 2 per cent and 10 per cent, do not appear in the policy as described. This mandate is the reason the Single Point Registration Scheme matters, since registration with NSIC brings free tender sets and exemption from Earnest Money Deposit, and it explains the sharp rise in procurement from SC/ST-owned units to Rs 4,013.42 crore in 2025-26.

The correct answer is 25 per cent, capped at Rs 25 lakh, offered under the Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme. The subsidy applies to new and existing SC/ST-owned micro and small enterprises investing in plant, machinery and equipment through institutional credit, and it covers both manufacturing and service units without restriction by product or sector. The remaining options invent rates and ceilings that the scheme does not carry. Aspirants should also remember the scheme's record, namely support to 3,160 enterprises amounting to Rs 356.10 crore since 2016 and up to March 2026, with coverage extended to 233 districts across 27 States and Union Territories. Other components work as reimbursements instead, at 80 per cent capped at Rs 1 lakh for loan processing fees, bank guarantee charges and testing fees, and at 90 per cent or Rs 1 lakh for management training at the top 50 NIRF institutes.