Adani Capital starts providing working capital to CSC VLEs

In a bid to strengthen local businesses by assisting micro-entrepreneurs, Common Services Centers (CSC), in collaboration with Adani Capital, have started providing working capital to its Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs).

Currently, approval for business loans have been provided to as many as 100 VLEs empaneled with CSC Grameen e-Stores, while 1,500 VLEs will be covered in the next three months.

As it stands, 10,000 VLEs are empaneled with CSC Grameen e-Stores. These VLEs act as distributors on the digital rural marketplace created by CSC e-Grameen Stores, helping corporates in last mile direct distribution of their products, which includes FMCG, Consumer Durables Home Appliances, Vehicles, etc.

CSC, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), launched the Grameen e-Store in April 2020, putting on offer a large range of products including local handicrafts, groceries, consumer durables, and automobiles in far-flung areas. Currently, 3.64 lakh Grameen e-Stores are functional across the country and their collective business has touched Rs 642.77 crore since launch. CSC has tied up with Adani Capital, a leading NBFC, to provide working capital to VLEs for which the latter has implemented a completely digital financial solution which makes financing available instantly and conveniently.

“VLEs running Grameen eStores leverage demand for various products and service it through CSC’s tie ups with manufacturers. Like any business, working capital is key to sustainable growth and with our tie-up with Adani Capital, we have been able to address VLE’s financing requirements and that too digitally,” said Sanjay Rakesh, MD & CEO, CSC SPV.

“Currently there are over 10,000 such VLEs empaneled with CSC e-Grameen Stores and we aim to scale up this financing programme in next three months to cover more than 1500 such VLEs. Creating a seamless, convenient onboarding and underwriting digital journey is what we are looking at. This is in coherence with our vision of supporting microentrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas,” said Gaurav Gupta, MD & CEO, Adani Capital.