Rajeev Chandrasekhar to take up SVB-linked startup woes with Centre

Amid concerns about the fallout on the Indian start-up sector due to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Union Minister for State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday said that he would take up the woes of industry's plea to the Union Finance Ministry.

The Minister, who held an online meeting with startups, told the media that he would take up the woes of Indian startups impacted by the SVB collapse with the finance ministry to help them come out from the crisis and address the immediate liquidity crunch they are facing.

More than 450 start ups including Zoth.Io, Hatica.Io and VCs and financial service providers like Blume VC and Mirae Asset were part of the meet.

The Minister also asked them to engage with the Indian banking system, which has been very robust and assured them of resolving teething issues they may face.

Read | Asian markets sink as SVB contagion fears hit banking sector

“I will share a list of suggestions with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and explore how best your concerns can be addressed. I will also explore how to smoothly facilitate the transfer of your US dollar deposits to Indian banks, IFSC centred foreign banks or any other Indian bank which has presence in the United States,” the Minister said.

The Minister also said that for those startups whose deposits were going to be made whole, but have no access to it currently, “We will explore the option of whether any credit lines can be made available in US dollar or Indian rupees. We will also try to see if more credit products like in the US, can be made available to you and make it easier for them to move from SVB to any other Indian Bank in the US,”the Minister said in the meeting.

The Minister said that startups and venture capitalists said that the US government authorities have assured of returning full money to the depositors, there is no clarity on the timelines, which will lead to a liquidity crunch in the firms that have been impacted by the SVB collapse.

Some of the startups shared that they were able to move their funds to US-based banks, but are exploring ways to shift their account to safer destinations, the Minister said.