The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) said on Thursday that it has formed a collaboration with Google India Pvt Ltd (GIPL) to test a social impact financing initiative that will provide MSMEs with up to Rs 1 crore in funding at subsidized interest rates.
According to a press statement from SIDBI, the cooperation with GIPL will provide a corpus of USD 15 million (about Rs 110 crore) to micro, small, and medium companies (MSMEs) as a COVID-19 crisis response. SIDBI is implementing a credit program targeted at micro firms (with a revenue of up to Rs 5 crore), with loan levels ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore, according to the statement.
In a statement, SIDBI Chairman and MD Sivasubramanian Ramann said, “We look forward to this collaboration to boost our efforts in expanding the sector’s access to credit and are extremely anxious to see the constructive impact that we can achieve together.”
He went on to say that this is also the first time SIDBI has offered its customers a paperless experience from onboarding to disbursal.
“By partnering with Sidbi, which has a deep understanding of the growing demands of this huge and scattered ecosystem, we are thrilled to expand our support to these firms,” said Google India Vice President and Country Manager Sanjay Gupta.
The program’s main focus will be on women-owned businesses, with appropriate interest rate concessions planned for them, according to the press release.