State Bank of India (SBI) will partner SIDBI and National Stock Exchange (NSE) to set up a trade receivable platform to facilitate better credit flow to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

This was stated by SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya in her lecture on ‘Indian Banking Sector: The Changing Landscape’ to mark the 96th Foundation Day of the apex industry chamber Assocham.

This platform, which will be among the 3-4 such platforms expected to come up in the country, will go live in the next 12 months, she said.

Setting up a trade receivable platform could benefit several small traders and SMEs who find it difficult to recover payments for the goods and services supplied to large industries. The inability to get their payments in a timely fashion had led to the small traders facing "stress", she noted.

Elaborating on how the new platform is expected to function, the SBI Chairperson said small traders would be required to register and put in their bills with the platform.

"We will send the bills to the industry majors. We are hoping that there would be some force of law to get the industry major to say a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ within 30 days. Once accepted, the traders can send the bill for discounting and take their money," she said.

Once these platforms go operational, things will become much better for small traders.

"Today just as you (SMEs) are suffering, we (SBI) are also suffering. At the end of the day, I might be having your security. But for the moment, you will become a NPA. But till such time I am able to dispose off the security, I will have you as an NPA on our books…", Bhattacharya said.

Many traders are feeling the stress due to non-receipt of payments on timely basis. "We don’t have a mechanism to ask for payments from large industries. Industry will eventually suffer when all traders go down," said a trader present at this event.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

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