TRACKPAD
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HDFC Bank launches SME e-bank
HDFC Bank, the second largest private lender in India has launched a digital bank for its small and medium enterprises (SME) customers with an aim to grow its market share. The aim of digital banking is to do away with a physical availability of a relationship manager and improve on the process of banking. With this initiative the Bank will now focus on corporate accounts for gaining market share. The bank has managed to cross 1 lac crore mark in its corporate book for the first time
The bank has grown its SME lending by 29 per cent even as lending to SME sector has de grown by 5 percent. The credit growth for the corporate sector is in single digit even as banks are concerned over SME's dependancy on large corporates for payments.
SME players however have been playing smart by reducing the concentration risk and broad-basing their growth which allows banks to lend comfortably to SME.
IDFC Alternatives to Raise $300 mn Real Estate Fund
IDFC Alternatives is looking to raise a $300 million or Rs. 2,000 crore funds to invest in Indian real estate sector. IDFC alternatives is the asset management arm of IDFC.
Interestingly the funds raised in the recent activity will be invested in the domestic residential segment and not commercial segment unlike in previous occasions. Easily this fund raising activity would be by far the biggest in during the year.
Fund raising by local PEs and global PEs is on rise in recent two years. Blackstone,TPG and KKR are increasingly allocating their funds in India. Experts believe that India specific fund raising activity could increase as the India remains to be the fastest growing economy in the world.
Empowering power entities
Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge), Piyush Goyal launched the much-awaited Urja app in Goa during the power ministers conference attended by power ministers from various states across the nation. The app will provide information of IT enabled towns from the respective states' data centres on consumer centric parameters in addition to providing information on progress of IPDS. According to a power ministry official, the app will also rank various towns, discoms and states based on the effectiveness of service delivery by the power distribution companies on the consumer centric parameters. With the launch of unique Urja app, the Ministry headed by Goyal expects to create an enthusiastic environment of healthy competitions among the power distribution companies across the country with an ultimate goal of better consumer delivery. Radhika Jha, Executive Director of PFC was also present in the occasion.