Sidbi sanctions Rs650 cr to 2 SFBs

Mumbai: SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India), on Tuesday said it has sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 650 crore to AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) and Jana Small Finance Bank so as to reach out to small-sized NBFCs/MFIs who will in turn provide funding to small businesses and micro entrepreneurs. An amount of Rs530 crore has already been released to these SFBs, said SIDBI in a release. Thefinancial assistance has been extended out of the special liquidity facility (SLF) of Rs 16,000 crore sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India to SIDBI to meet the challenges being faced by MSMEs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said.

Speaking about the assistance, Sidbi's Chairman & Managing Director Sivasubramanian Ramann said, "The move is expected to benefit more than 40 small-sized NBFCs / MFIs which will help in mitigating the hardships being faced by such NBFCs / MFIs in garnering resources for their businesses." In June last year, RBI had announced a special liquidity facility of Rs 16,000 crore to Sidbi. This was aimed at meeting MSMEs' short and medium-term credit needs to kickstart the investment cycle with additional focus on smaller MSMEs and businesses including those in credit deficient and aspirational districts.