NSIC-SBI pact in final stages

“We are in the final stages. The pact can be finalised any day,” NSIC CMD H P Kumar said.
As part of the deal, NSIC is looking at an arrangement under which SBI will provide loans at affordable rates for the MSMEs registered with it.

The current rates at which firms in the MSME sector borrow from lenders range from 10 to 10.5 per cent.

Kumar said apart from higher rates, the MSME sector faced credit crunch as they could not meet collateral requirements and have limited access to equity capital.

Hence, the agreement with SBI will be in the interest of MSME sector and should be acceptable to the bank, he added.