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Our Bureau

Kochi , July 1

STATE Bank of India has launched a new trade finance scheme exclusively targeted at traders and people in the services sector. The scheme is to be first launched in Kerala and later in Vijayawada before it is rolled out into the rest of the country.

The new credit scheme has been designed to provide hassle-free loans to businessmen with credit requirements ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 5 crore.

A notable feature of the scheme is that for loans up to Rs 5 lakh, collateral security in the form of immovable property is not mandatory and the loan can be sought on the basis of guarantees alone, Mr S. Ramakrishnan, Deputy General Manager of the bank, said in his inaugural address.

In the case of larger loans also, collateral security requirements have been slashed to 50 per cent of the loan amount.

Another of the scheme, called Mortgage Loans for Trade and Services, is based on the value of the collateral security and can be availed with bare minimum formalities, a press release said.

Up to 75 per cent of the value of the security can be availed as loan and stock statements are to be submitted once a year. The scheme commands an interest rate of 10 per cent for working capital loans and 10.5 per cent for term loans with a maturity period of five years.

Mr C.P. Jain, President, Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry, felicitated the bank on the initiatives and expressed the confidence that it would prove to be a boon to traders in Kerala.

Our Thiruvananthapuram Bureau adds: SBI has launched an innovative scheme for financing voluntary health workers in Kerala.

Under the scheme, Santhwanam, the bank will extend finance to all eligible health workers for providing basic low-cost health checks and diagnostic services at the doorsteps of needy patients in various villages and towns in the State.

Mr Deepak Chawla, Chief General Manager of SBI, Kerala Circle, told newspersons on the occasion of the bank's bicentenary celebration here that the scheme had been introduced in co-ordination with the State Government and non-governmental organisations.

The workers will be given basic training in checking blood pressure and diabetes testing and the bank will provide finance to them for buying vehicles and the necessary instruments to render the services.

SBI has also entered into an alliance with the State Department of Tourism for financing the latter's Vazhiyoram project, which envisages setting up 250 wayside restaurants and other facilities along highways and major roads.

The eligible entrepreneurs under the scheme will be extended finance by the bank on liberal terms and concessionary rate of interest. The scheme will be a solution to unemployment and the lack of adequate facilities for tourists, Mr Chawla said.

Explaining the performance of the Kerala Circle since its inception in 2000, Mr Chawla said the credit deployment registered a growth of 144 per cent, from Rs 1,711 crore in March 2000 to Rs 4,178 crore in March 2005. The credit deposit ratio during the period increased from 39 per cent to 56 per cent.

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