Union Bank, SIDBI enter into JV for co-financing SMEs

Mumbai, June 22 (UNI) Union Bank of India (UBI) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for the joint lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Briefing newspersons here today, UBI Chairman and Managing Director M V Nair said the bank has identified the SMEs as one of its thrust areas for growth in lending.

He pointed out that the bank's outstanding exposure to SMEs as on March 31 stood at Rs 6,834.20 crore and said the bank was targeting a growth of 25 per cent in this portfolio in the current fiscal.

During 2005-06, Mr Nair said that the bank had launched a new scheme named 'Union High Pride' targeting medium enterprises with value added features and competitive interest rates.

Currently, the bank would focus on ''cluster'' financing approach to target the SMEs. It had already succeeded on this front in Tirpur and Palladam in Tamil Nadu, which it plans to extend to other parts of the country with the added assistance from SIDBI, he added.

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