SBI, German development bank KfW sign $300 mn loan facility

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) and German development bank KfW today concluded a USD 300 million (Rs 1,956 crore) loan facility to support rural and micro enterprise lending in India.
The loan has a maturity of 15 years, SBI said in a statement.
The process of fund raising was facilitated by SBI's subsidiary, SBI Capital Markets.
With a twin focus on agricultural and micro-enterprise loans, the facility is designed to further strengthen and extend SBI's priority sector lending activities.
The pact was signed by V G Kannan, Managing Director, SBI on behalf of the state-run lender, while KfW was represented by Roland Siller, Director General Europe and Asia and Nicolai Tust, Principal Country Manager.

"Joining hands with India's largest bank provides an unprecedented opportunity to translate that objective into reality," said Siller.
Kannan said he expects the relationship to further grow in other strategic sectors like clean energy where SBI has already committed to support in line with Indian government's initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint.