With the Indian SME market pegged at around $ 5 billion with more than 20 million small and medium enterprises, major private and public banks are betting big on this sector.
Dheeraj Dikshit, head-SME, commercial banking, HSBC, said, “Projected to grow at 11.5 per cent, contributing 50 per cent of total exports, 40 per cent of domestic production, SMEs are one segment which cannot be ignored. HSBC is looking at adding another 35,000-40,000 clients this year,” he said. The bank has products catering to over 70,000 SME customers.
State Bank of India too has initiated measures like setting up centralised processing cells for faster processing of credit proposals beyond Rs 1 crore, ensuring approval within 14 days, and formation of small enterprise credit cells at specified centres to accept applications.