Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS) for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe

What is the Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS)?

Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (SCLCSS) is a component of the National SC-ST Hub (NSSH), a scheme of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. According to the National SC-ST Hub portal, SCLCSS was introduced in 2017 to promote new enterprises and support the expansion of existing ones, so that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs can participate more fully in public procurement.

Under SCLCSS there is a provision of a 25% subsidy to SC/ST micro and small enterprises for the procurement of plant and machinery or equipment through institutional credit (a bank term loan), with an overall ceiling of Rs 25 lakh on the subsidy and no sector-specific restrictions. The subsidy applies to the purchase of new plant and machinery or equipment that is eligible for a term loan from the Prime Lending Institutions (PLIs).

Originally the scheme covered manufacturing units. Based on stakeholder consultation, the service sector was included under SCLCSS in the revised NSSH guidelines dated 15 November 2021. As a result, SC/ST micro and small enterprises in both the manufacturing and the service sector are now eligible for the subsidy.

Who is eligible for SCLCSS?

You can apply if:

• Your enterprise is a sole proprietorship, partnership, co-operative, society, or private micro/small enterprise owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs.
• The enterprise is engaged in manufacturing or service activities.
• You have taken a term loan from a Prime Lending Institution to buy new plant and machinery or equipment.
• For a partnership, LLP or private limited company, more than 51% of the shareholding is held by SC/ST entrepreneurs.

You cannot apply if:

• Your enterprise is engaged in trading activities, traders are not eligible for the SCLCSS subsidy.
• The enterprise is not owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs (or SC/ST holding is 51% or less).
• The plant and machinery is second-hand, or was not financed through an institutional term loan.
• You have already availed, or intend to avail, another Central/State subsidy on the same plant and machinery. This is not permitted, and vice versa.

What documents are required?

How to apply for SCLCSS

1. Take a term loan from a Prime Lending Institution (bank) for the purchase of new plant and machinery or equipment for your SC/ST-owned MSE.
2. Submit the SCLCSS application along with the required documents to the concerned Prime Lending Institution — the bank from which the term loan was availed.
3. The nodal bank/agency notified by the Ministry of MSME uploads the claim application on the dedicated MIS portal. For loans from other eligible PLIs, SIDBI and NABARD are the nodal agencies for releasing the subsidy.
4. Ensure the claim is filed within one year of the reference date. The date of release or disbursement of the last instalment of the term loan.

Because SCLCSS is a bank-routed subsidy, there is no separate self-registration for the subsidy on a citizen portal. The lending bank initiates the claim on your behalf through the MIS portal.

How much benefit does SCLCSS provide?

The subsidy is 25% of the cost of new plant and machinery or equipment financed through the term loan, subject to an overall ceiling of Rs 25 lakh. There are no sector-specific restrictions on the type of machinery, and both manufacturing and service enterprises qualify. The subsidy cannot be combined with any other Central or State subsidy on the same machinery.

Help and contact

• National SC-ST Hub / NSIC toll-free: 1800-11-1954
• Phone: 011-26926275
• Email: scsthub@nsic.co.in
• Portal: scsthub.in

For the exact eligibility of specific equipment and the list of activities not covered, refer to the SCLCSS guidelines and Standard Operating Procedure published on the National SC-ST Hub portal.

How to check your application status

Because SCLCSS is a bank-routed subsidy rather than a self-service citizen portal scheme, there is no applicant login where you can track a claim number online. Status checking instead runs through the same two-track structure as the application itself.

1. Ask your Prime Lending Institution (PLI) first. The bank branch that sanctioned your term loan is the one that submitted your SCLCSS claim, so it is also the first and most reliable place to ask. Contact the branch manager or the MSME/priority-sector desk and quote your loan account number; the branch can tell you whether the claim has been prepared, uploaded to the MIS portal, or is still pending internal documentation.
2. Confirm the claim reached the nodal agency. Once your bank uploads the claim on the MIS portal, it moves to the nodal agency for processing, SIDBI or NABARD for loans routed through eligible institutions other than the main notified nodal bank. If your branch confirms the claim was uploaded but you have heard nothing for several weeks, ask the branch to follow up with the nodal agency on the claim's processing stage, since individual applicants typically cannot query the MIS portal directly.
3. Call the National SC-ST Hub helpline for a status nudge. If the bank is unresponsive or vague, call the toll-free number 1800-11-1954, or the landline 011-26926275, and describe your loan sanction date, PLI name, and the approximate date the claim was uploaded. Hub staff can sometimes flag a stuck claim for the nodal agency's attention, though they do not hold branch-level records themselves.
4. Email as a written follow-up. Writing to scsthub@nsic.co.in with your Udyam Registration number, PLI name, term loan sanction date, and the reference date (the date of the last loan instalment disbursement) creates a paper trail if the subsidy credit is delayed beyond a reasonable period after the one-year claim window closes.
5. Watch your loan account, not a portal notification. The subsidy is typically credited into the term loan account itself (reducing the outstanding principal) rather than paid out separately, so the practical way to confirm final disbursement is to check your loan account statement with the bank for a subsidy credit entry, rather than expecting an SMS or portal alert.

Common reasons for rejection

• Claim filed after the one-year window. The reference date is fixed as the date of release or disbursement of the last instalment of the term loan, and claims must be filed within one year of that date. Missing this deadline because the branch was slow to compile paperwork is one of the most common causes of rejection; the fix is to raise the SCLCSS claim with your bank as soon as the loan is fully disbursed, not after machinery installation or production has started.
• SC/ST ownership at or below 51%. For partnerships, LLPs and private limited companies, the rule requires more than 51% shareholding held by SC/ST entrepreneurs, exactly 51% does not qualify. Applications from firms with SC/ST partners holding only 50% or a bare 51% are rejected on this technical threshold; the fix is to restructure the shareholding or partnership deed to clearly exceed 51% before applying, and to state the percentage explicitly in the constitution documents submitted.
• Enterprise classified as a trading activity. SCLCSS excludes traders entirely, it only supports manufacturing and service enterprises. Applications get rejected when the Udyam Registration activity code or the nature of business described in the loan file reads as trading (buying and reselling goods) rather than manufacturing or an eligible service. The fix is to ensure the Udyam Registration and the loan purpose correctly reflect a manufacturing or service activity before the claim is filed.
• Machinery not new, or not financed through the term loan itself. The subsidy applies only to new plant, machinery or equipment purchased using the specific bank term loan being claimed against. Claims are rejected where the invoices show second-hand equipment, or where the machinery purchase was funded from working capital or own funds rather than the sanctioned term loan. The fix is to route all such purchases through the term loan disbursement and retain matching invoices in the borrower's name for the exact machinery financed.
• Same machinery already subsidised elsewhere. A unit that has claimed, or is simultaneously claiming, a Central or State subsidy on the same plant and machinery under another scheme cannot also claim SCLCSS on it, and vice versa. This double-claim conflict is caught during nodal agency verification and leads to rejection; the fix is to check with the bank whether any other capital subsidy (state industrial subsidy, another Central credit-linked scheme) has been or will be claimed on the same asset before filing under SCLCSS.
• Incomplete or mismatched constitution and caste documents. Rejections also occur when the caste certificate does not cover all partners or directors named in the constitution documents, or when the partnership deed or MoA/AoA does not clearly state the shareholding percentage needed to prove majority SC/ST ownership. The fix is to ensure caste certificates are current and cover every partner/director, and that the constitution document explicitly states the SC/ST shareholding percentage rather than leaving it to be inferred.