Corp Bank offers Rs 500cr for Komarapalayam weaving park

Corporation Bank is planning to disburse Rs 500 crore as loan to the upcoming Komarapalayam Hi-Tech Weaving Park (KHWP).

Addressing a press conference, B Sambhamurthy, chairman and managing director, Corporation Bank, said the Rs 500-crore loan disbursement was meant both for the working capital and the purchase of machinery for the park. A final decision in this regard would be taken in three weeks, he added.

The Rs 125-crore project will have 57 units comprising 50 weaving sheds, five warping plants and one unit each for sizing and spinning. The park will have 600 weaving machines and is likely to start its commercial production in March 2007.

Enthused by the response that it has received for its scheme, Retail Assets Credit Processing Cell (RACPC), in its home state of Karnataka, the bank is mulling to extend this service in Tamil Nadu.

The bank plans to establish 11 such centres (called as 'Loan Factories') across the nation. In Tamil Nadu, its first such facility would come up in Coimbatore by December 2006.

As a part of the bank's business process restructuring (BPR) activity, a centralised cell was formed three months ago for sanctioning personal segment loans and loans under small and medium businesses (SMBs) segment up to a certain limit, to reposition the branches as marketing units.

Branches of the bank would source the application and send them to the respective credit processing cells for their consideration.

"Our loan factories will provide the clientele a hassle-free processing within eight days of their submitting proposals, be it loan applications for housing, car purchase or for higher education, within the pre-set norms," Sambhamurthy added.

Stating that the turn around time (TAT) has been reduced to one week, against 21 days earlier, he said that these cells ensure better quality of appraisals to avoid frauds in availing bank loans.

The bank also plans to set up a centralised processing cell for agricultural loans in Hassan, Karnataka, in a months, he added.