The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) has repositioned itself to fill the gaps in the MSME ecosystem — both in financial services and in the developmental space — according to its Deputy Managing Director, NK Maini.
Niche financingThe bank has zeroed in on four or five areas of niche financing. These include financing receivables, risk capital, services sector, and for sustainable development of the MSME sector.
Inaugurating the 15{+t}{+h} edition of Intec 2014, the International Industrial Trade Fair at the Codissia Trade Fair Complex in Coimbatore last week, Maini said, “Sidbi is in the process of promoting factoring movement in the country. We hope we will be able to resolve the receivables problem to a large extent through this initiative.”
The RBI extended a support of ₹5,000 crore to Sidbi for receivables financing last year and we were able to use this support within a span of two months. As on date, we have covered 10,000 MSMEs for the delayed receivables, he added.
The Credit Guarantee Fund of ₹500 crore announced by the Government last year (essentially for factoring transactions), is being worked out. Sidbi would look at supporting the existing organisations, Maini said.
“Risk capital is a requirement that is not catered to by commercial banks. We at Sidbi would like to play a role that is both complementary and supplementary to commercial banks. We want to fill the void and fulfil the financial needs of the MSMEs.”