• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

— M. Periasamy

Creating awareness: (From left) Mr Virendra Goyal, Regional Manager- South and East, SME Rating Agency of India; Mr Jayakumar Ramdass, President, Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association; Mr Parag Patki, Chief Executive Officer, SMERA, and Mr V. Lakshminarayanasamy, Vice-President, SIEMA, at the signing of the MoU in Coimbatore.

R. Yegya Narayanan

Coimbatore, Oct. 26 Coimbatore-based Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (SIEMA) and the SME Rating Agency of India Ltd (SMERA) signed an MoU here for offering credit rating services to SIEMA members.

The MoU is an effort to create greater awareness among SIEMA members about the advantages of credit rating and to help inculcate financial discipline.

At the MoU signing ceremony, six companies applied for the rating, and SIEMA hopes more would join once they understand the advantages.

SMERA is a joint initiative of SIDBI, Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India Private Ltd and many prominent banks in India. Speaking to Business Line ahead of the MoU signing function, Mr Jayakumar Ramdass, President, SIEMA, said banks had offered varying rates of interest to different member-companies depending on several parameters. But once the companies opted for SMERA rating, the members can share information about interest rates and can approach banks for better rates, he said.

When asked if the family-owned companies in Coimbatore region would opt for the rating as it involves sharing sensitive financial and market data, Mr Ramdass said companies in the south, generally known for their clean balance sheets, were realising that it is sensible to pay tax and get better interest rate from banks on the strength of their balance sheets. He pointed out that the rating agency would ensure confidentiality of the data companies share.

More Stories on : Credit Rating | Tamil Nadu

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line