SBI considering proposal to fund Nag-Mum Eway

Nagpur: Even as the state government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea for funding the Nagpur-Mumbai expressway, PSU behemoth SBI, too, is examining a proposal lend chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' pet project.

"We are looking at well-centred projects for funding. The Nagpur-Mumbai expressway is one of them," said SBI's chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya. She was in the city attend to the launch function of the Sarvatra mobility card for Nagpur Metro train travellers. The card will be issued by SBI.

"As it takes time in taking decisions over big projects, the final call will be taken after studying the detail project report (DPR) on the expressway," she said.

Later during the function, Fadnavis said the bank has already assured to provide finance of Rs11,000 crore for the road project. An MoU has been signed with South Korea too. "The South Korean government has extended a line of credit of $10 billion to India. Modalities are being discussed with the government road building corporation there to utilize the line of credit through a special purpose vehicle formed along with Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC)," said the chief minister.

On a question about Nagpur's Abhijeet Group, which owes over Rs11,000 crore to banks, Bhattacharya said the case has gone beyond the stage of resolution through National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The bank has initiated harsh action through Securitisation Act against the company,

Abhijeet Group, headed by city businessman Manoj Jayaswal, has emerged as a bigger defaulter than Kingfisher Airlines. Jayaswal and his son Abhishekh were arrested by the CBI in a letter of credit (L/C) fraud case in June.

Bhattacharya said the SBI will continue to invest in digital payment systems. In a reference to the latest research report by the SBI that banks may lose Rs3,800 a year due to investment in card swipe systems, she said this may happen initially. "As the usage increases, the business would become viable. SBI accounts for 33% of the digital payment business contributing by 25% to the Bhim app," she added. The SBI chief also ruled out any chance of cut in deposit rates after the recent reduction in base rate.