Canara Bank plans to open exclusive Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) branches in Tiruchi and Perambalur soon.
The bank has envisaged an MSME cluster scheme for the mosquito net weaving industry in Karur, according to General Manager S. Krishnakumar.
Addressing the Canara Bank’s MSME meet in Karur on Thursday, Mr. Krishnakumar said there were three exclusive SME branches in Karur, Dindigul, and Namakkal.
The present outstanding MSME advances in the Tiruchi Circle, comprising of 11 districts in central Tamil Nadu and Puducherry's Karaikal region, are Rs. 600 crore. The bank has planned to achieve a target of Rs. 860 crore in this fiscal, he added.
Competitive credit rate
Elaborating on the bank’s plans for MSME entrepreneurs, Mr. Krishnakumar said the Canara Bank pricing on rupee export credit was very competitive as compared to other players in the market.
The bank's MSME advances in March this year is Rs. 37,016 crore, while the target for next March has been pegged at Rs. 48,000 crore. That went to show how much the bank supported MSME entrepreneurs, Mr. Krishnakumar said.
The bank has now extended an overdraft facility to the MSME scheme for manufacturing units while unveiling a special loan scheme for the BHEL ancillary units in Tiruchi district. Existing customers could make use of them, he added. On the occasion, 20 MSME entrepreneurs were granted a provisional credit sanction of Rs. 8.5 crore.
Turnover
The Tiruchi Circle, having jurisdiction over 169 branches, has achieved a business turnover of Rs. 11,944 crore comprising of Rs. 5,662 crore as deposits and Rs. 6,282 crore as advances for the period ending last March.
The target for the current fiscal for the circle is Rs. 16,000 crore, as the bank has aimed for an advances target of Rs. 8,700 crore and hoped to garner deposits of Rs. 7,300 crore, Mr. Krishnakumar said.
C. Santhalingam, Assistant General Manager, Karur branch, expressed the hope that the customers — in particular the MSME entrepreneurs including textile exporters from Karur — availed the bank’s MSME-oriented schemes.
N. Nachimuthu, Chairman of Atlas Export Enterprises, who was the chief guest, praised the bank’s efforts to reach out to entrepreneurs at their time of need and said that the schemes were of huge benefit to entrepreneurs at a time when the manufacturing sector was witnessing a slump.
