Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) today said it is in talks with 3-4 commercial banks for stake, so that it can get a direct lending window to the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector.
Since SIDBI's core business of re-finance has come to a grinding halt, because of enough liquidity in the market and soft interest regime, it is looking at expanding its product portfolio by 'strategically aligning' with banks, its CMD, Mr N Balasubraman ian said on the sidelines of a seminar on SSI sector.
Besides, the delivery channels of SIDBI are limited to its 36 outlets and hence it is exploring other routes to provide loans to the SME sector.
Mr Balasubramanian preferred the expression 'strategic alliance' to 'acquiring stake in banks' since the latter raises suspicion.
"We are in talks with 3-4 banks to provide them capital, so that we can provide working capital to SMEs," he added.
