The development bank of Germany, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), has signed a loan agreement with its Indian peer Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) where the former would extend €53 million ($66 million) for the micro, small and medium enterprises’ (MSMEs) innovation finance programme.
The MSME innovation finance programme seeks to support innovations, particularly those relating to clean technologies, with the overall objective of fostering ecologically sustainable development in India and protecting global environment and climate, said SIDBI.
The assistance will be provided by SIDBI in the form of loan/risk capital assistance/quasi-equity products, specifically tailored to meet the needs of innovative MSMEs.
In FY2011, SIDBI launched energy efficiency programmes in MSME clusters under the World Bank-Global Environment facility project.
SIDBI has also devised special schemes for providing investment assistance in energy efficiency projects and cleaner production options to MSMEs, and such assistance will be provided at concessional terms.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)
