The Congress Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of benefitting "friends" by promoting private and crony capitalists at the expense of public institutions and demanded an independent judicial probe into the new '59-minute loan scheme' for the MSME sector.

Alleging the scheme is a "scam", Congress leader Gaurav Vallabh demanded that the affairs of portal www.psbloansin59minutes.com, processing loans to small industries, be fully investigated and its contract with the government cancelled. There was no immediate response from either the government or the PMO or the ruling BJP over the charges made by the Congress. Prime Minister Modi launched a new facility for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) alongside a slew of measures for the sector, which, Vallabh said, incidentally has been battered for a long term due to demonetisation in November 2016.