IDBI makeover runs into fresh opposition

 The department holds that IDBI should be allowed to raise funds by issuing SLR bonds and securitisation of dues. This will ensure that it is able to provide corporates with cheap and long-tenure finance.

 The department is firming up a proposal for the finance ministry, which seeks to ensure that funds are available to companies for setting up industrial units and infrastructure projects that offer quality services at low prices.

 DIPP Secretary RR Shah, a director on the IDBI board, has already raised these concerns at a recent board meeting of the institution.

 Although sanctions and disbursements have increased in the first half of the current financial year, DIPP officials are of the opinion that lack of cheap funds are partly responsible for the slowdown in industrial growth.

 DIPP officials said the department was awaiting some inputs from M Damodaran, the officiating IDBI chairman and managing director, before sending its proposal to the finance ministry.