Corporation Bank opens loan centre for SMEs

CHENNAI: With a view to enabling Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to access credit easily and to strengthen its presence in the South, Corporation Bank opened an exclusive loan centre at Chennai recently. The centre would facilitate effective use of hi-tech banking technology to process credit proposals with speed and ease.“In a volatile market environment, SMEs are facing credit inadequacy. However, at the SME loan centres, we can process loans within a 15 day period,” said Amar Lal Daultani, Executive Director of Corporation Bank. “In the South, Tamil Nadu has been performing well and we see it as a high-growth state. We are not overtly worried about non performing assets (NPAs) here since the default rate has been relatively low. Besides, our fundamentals are strong,” he added.According to Daultani, the bank will use SEBI registered SMERA (SME Rating Agency of India Ltd.) to rate clients and assess their credit worthiness. “Out goal is to make credit easily accessible to the the people owning small and medium business who have the drive to succeed and the ratings will help us stay objective in awarding credit,” he stated.Tamil Nadu has the fourth largest number of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country at a whopping 7.6 lakh units, which employ 53 lakh people and hold a consolidated investment of Rs 39,438 crore.  “The loan centres will enable enterprises with an annual turnover of up to `150 crore, procure credit in the range of Rs 25 lakh to `25 crore,” said K Rama Murthy, General Manager, Corporate Office.’