Syndicate Bank has set a target of disbursing ₹6,500 crore to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and medium and small units in the first quarter of this fiscal.
“The bank has set a target to disburse ₹2 crore per branch in the network. At present, we have 3,200 branches spread across the country,” said K Preetam Lal, General Manager, Syndicate Bank.
The bank has simplified the procedures to speed up the process of loan disbursal. As part of this exercise, the top management will help cross-check MSME proposals and approve loans instantly.
Lal said a mechanism to track MSME proposals online is also in place to help entrepreneurs know the status of their applications.
“We have conducted workshops and provided guidelines to all our controlling offices and all branch heads in dealing with MSME applications and the importance of attracting them,” he added. Lal said the bank has 69 specialised branches for lending exclusively to the MSME sector.
The bank covered 38,715 accounts with a loan amount of ₹1,940.39 crore under the CGTMSE scheme at the end of March 31, 2014.
“The bank, to continue its focus on SMEs, small scale industries and mid-corporates, has identified around 20 centres in the country to set up specialised mid-corporate branches. It is also in the process of setting up SME processing centres in a few clusters,” he added.