The Hindu Business Line : Investors in powerloom parks looking for bridge loan facility

INDIVIDUAL investors taking up projects in the proposed hi-tech powerloom weaving park projects in Tamil Nadu have mooted a proposal to avail themselves of bridge loans to meet timely capital infusion needed for the decentralised weaving industry.

The implementing agencies of the hi-tech weaving parks, in this instance the special purpose vehicle companies promoting these parks in specific areas, have informally made this proposal to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC), the state financial institution, according to officials connected with the weaving park projects.

The proposal to explore the possibility of getting the `bridge' loan is to cover the capital subsidy envisaged in the weaving park projects as well as the loan component of the project to be raised by the investors who are allotted industrial sheds in the parks, the sources said.

The proposed parks are to provide the basic infrastructure such as roads, captive power, effluent treatment plants, marketing halls and training centres besides work-sheds for the weaving machines. These infrastructure facilities are to get capital subsidy under the Government-sponsored schemes - Textile Centre Infrastructure Development Scheme (TCIDS) and Group Work Shed (GWS) Scheme.

The broad contours of the investment programme will run through the capital being brought by promoters contribution, government subsidy and term loan elements in the 10:25:65 ratio.

As per the TCIDS blueprint, the 25 per cent capital subsidy from the Centre and the State government at 75:25 ratio will be back-ended and would be reimbursed to the park promoters after the commencement of the project.

The issue of opting for a bridge loan from the State financial institutions was browsed at a high-level official meeting held in Chennai last month in which top executives of SIDBI and TIIC were present. The meeting was primarily to discuss ways and means to expedite the implementation of the three hi-tech weaving park projects approved by the Centre and the State government.

According to official sources, the TIIC and the SIDBI were sounded to working out modalities for extending the bridge loan facility.

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