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Our Bureau

Mumbai, Aug. 8 ICICI Bank, which saw a growth of 40 per cent in its small and medium enterprise business segment last year and currently services one million SME clients, has tied up with International Finance Corporation and IBM to offer an ‘SME toolkit’.

This is a Web site which provides information and advice to help SMEs start, finance and grow their business.

This toolkit has been launched in 24 countries and in 13 languages, Mr Anil Sinha, General Manager, IFC Advisory Services for South Asia, said at the launch of the service.

In some countries IFC has tied up with chambers of commerce which represent SMEs and consultants, he added.

The toolkit is a free online resource available on www.india.smetoolkit.org. It has international articles, draft agreements, government notifications and circulars, as well as legal advice.

The information would be available in English and Hindi.

CD-ROMs for this offer would also be available at about 115 ICICI Bank branches which are SME centres, Mr Chandok said.

In future, the bank is also planning to offer to its SME clients, additional services such as private equity and market research, he said.

ICICI Bank is adding around 2000 SME customers every day, said Mr V. Vaidyanathan, Executive Director, ICICI Bank. “This sector will continue to do well.”

The SME sector contributes 12-13 per cent of the bank’s income, said Mr Vijay Chandok, Senior General Manager, Small and Medium Enterprises, ICICI Bank.

The size of the bank’s SME portfolio is about $4 billion, he said.

IBM provides the technological back-up for the Web site.

When asked if there was a likelihood of a softening bias in interest rates, Mr Vaidyanathan said this is unlikely as the RBI has indicated a bias towards tighter monetary policy in order to curb inflation.

About the asset quality in the retail and SME segments, Mr Vaidyanathan said it was good as the segments were “highly predictable”.

In the home loan segment, the net NPA was one per cent, he pointed out. Within the retail segment, non-collateral loans or personal loans had grown faster, he said.

More Stories on : Alliances & Joint Ventures | SSI | Internet | Private Banks | ICICI Bank Ltd

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