LIDCOM Margin Money Loan Scheme (Sant Rohidas Leather Industries and Charmakar Development Corporation)

What is the LIDCOM Margin Money Loan Scheme?

LIDCOM Margin Money Loan Scheme is a self-employment credit scheme of the Sant Rohidas Leather Industries and Charmakar Development Corporation Ltd, a Maharashtra government corporation working under the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department. The corporation is universally known by its short name LIDCOM, and the scheme is often called the Margin Money or Seed Capital Scheme.

LIDCOM Margin Money Loan Scheme exists because a small entrepreneur from the Charmakar community can rarely put down the margin a bank asks for before it sanctions a term loan. The state corporation supplies that margin. For a project costing between Rs 50,001 and Rs 5,00,000, LIDCOM pays in 20 per cent of the project cost as seed capital at 4 per cent interest per annum, and adds a subsidy of a maximum of Rs 10,000. The bank funds the remaining 75 per cent at its own prevailing rate, and the beneficiary contributes 5 per cent from their own pocket.

The effect is that a beneficiary who can raise only 5 per cent of the cost can still start a viable business, and pays a low 4 per cent rate on the largest non-bank slice of the funding.

Who is eligible for the LIDCOM Margin Money Loan Scheme?

You can get the benefit if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Caste Charmakar community, Chambhar, Dhor, Holar, Mochi and allied castes, and hold a valid caste certificate.
• You are a permanent resident of Maharashtra.
• You are between 18 and 50 years of age.
• Your annual family income is below Rs 1,00,000, evidenced by a current income certificate.
• You have knowledge of the business you propose to run. LIDCOM expects the applicant to understand the trade, not merely to want a loan.
• You have a bank willing to appraise and finance 75 per cent of the project cost.

You cannot apply or are not eligible if:

• You are not from the Charmakar community. The corporation's mandate is specific to this Scheduled Caste group; other SC sub-castes are served by other Maharashtra corporations such as MPBCDC.
• You are under 18 or over 50 years old.
• Your family income is Rs 1,00,000 or more a year.
• You live outside Maharashtra, even if you belong to the community.
• You are applying as a company, firm, trust or society rather than as an individual entrepreneur.
• Your project cost is below Rs 50,001, that range is served by LIDCOM's separate 50 per cent Subsidy Scheme, which covers loans up to Rs 50,000 with a subsidy of 50 per cent capped at Rs 10,000.

LIDCOM also runs a Gattai Stall Scheme for roadside cobblers holding a gram panchayat place, providing a tin stall of 4 feet by 5 feet by 6.5 feet at 100 per cent subsidy, with the unit costed at Rs 16,367 plus Rs 500 installation. An applicant whose need is simply a stall should ask about that scheme rather than the Margin Money route.

How is the money structured?

The project cost band is Rs 50,001 to Rs 5,00,000. On a Rs 5,00,000 project, that means roughly Rs 1,00,000 of LIDCOM seed capital, Rs 3,75,000 of bank finance and Rs 25,000 from the applicant, with a subsidy of up to Rs 10,000 reducing the amount that ultimately has to be repaid.

What documents are required?

District offices sometimes ask for additional local papers such as a ration card, a photograph, a rent agreement or ownership proof for the business premises, and a no-dues certificate. Ask your district office for its current checklist before assembling the file.

How to apply for the LIDCOM Margin Money Loan Scheme

The scheme is applied for offline. LIDCOM's own scheme page states that application forms are available at its district offices and must be submitted to the district office concerned.

1. Visit the LIDCOM district office in your district and ask for the Margin Money (Seed Capital) Scheme application form. The head office at 45 Veer Nariman Marg, Bombay Life Building, fifth floor, Fort, Mumbai 400001 can tell you the address of your district office.
2. Prepare your project proposal: what business you will run, the machinery or stock you need, quotations for each item, and the total project cost. The cost must fall between Rs 50,001 and Rs 5,00,000.
3. Collect the certificates — caste certificate showing Charmakar community, income certificate showing family income below Rs 1,00,000, age proof and Maharashtra domicile proof.
4. Fill in the application form completely and attach the project proposal and all certificates.
5. Submit the file to the LIDCOM district office and take an acknowledgement with a date and inward number. Keep it, this is what you quote when following up.
6. Attend the district selection process. The district office scrutinises the file, verifies the caste and income certificates, and forwards approved proposals to the financing bank.
7. Complete the bank formalities. The bank appraises the project independently and sanctions its 75 per cent share. LIDCOM releases its seed capital and subsidy alongside the bank's disbursement.
8. Start the business and repay on schedule. LIDCOM's seed capital carries 4 per cent annual interest and the bank's share carries the bank's rate.

How do I check my application status?

LIDCOM does not run a public online status tracker for this scheme. Status is checked by contacting the district office where you submitted the file, quoting the inward number on your acknowledgement. If the district office has already forwarded your proposal, the next stage is with the bank branch, and that is where you follow up.

The corporation's Mumbai head office numbers; 022-45240417, 022-22044186 and 022-22047157: can tell you which district office holds your file if you have moved or lost contact.

Why applications get rejected, and how to avoid it

• Caste certificate does not name the Charmakar community. A generic Scheduled Caste certificate is not always enough; the certificate must establish the specific community LIDCOM serves.
• Income certificate is stale or above the limit. The annual family income must be below Rs 1,00,000 and the certificate should be recent.
• Age outside the 18 to 50 band. This is checked strictly against the age proof submitted.
• Project cost below Rs 50,001. These proposals belong under the 50 per cent Subsidy Scheme instead and are redirected rather than sanctioned here.
• Weak or unpriced project report. Since every share is a percentage of project cost, an unquantified proposal cannot be processed.
• Bank declines the 75 per cent loan. LIDCOM's recommendation does not override the bank's credit appraisal. A poor repayment record or an unconvincing business plan stops the file at the bank.
• Existing default to LIDCOM or a bank on an earlier subsidised loan.

A common practical delay is the sheer volume of pending proposals. LIDCOM has publicly referred to thousands of pending proposals being cleared through scheme fairs (melava), so a file may sit in a district queue for months. Keeping the acknowledgement and following up in person is the only reliable remedy.

Where to complain or get help

• LIDCOM head office: 45 Veer Nariman Marg, Bombay Life Building, fifth floor, Fort, Mumbai 400001. Phone 022-45240417, 022-22044186 or 022-22047157.
• LIDCOM district office in your district, for application status, document lists and selection queries.
• Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra, which administers the corporation, for escalation. Its site at sjsa.maharashtra.gov.in lists LIDCOM among the corporations under it.
• Assistant Commissioner of Social Welfare at the district level, for complaints about local handling.

Application forms are free of charge. No agent can guarantee a sanction, and paying anyone for a "recommendation" is neither necessary nor legitimate.