PremiumThe country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Thursday launched a new business loan scheme 'Aarogyam Loan' for the healthcare sector to extend loan support in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The new loans may be availed by way of Cash Credit, Term loan, bank guarantee, letter of credit, the lender said in a statement.
Benefits of 'Aarogyam Business Loan':
Under this new scheme, entire healthcare ecosystem such as hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic centres, pathology labs, manufacturers, suppliers, importers, logistic firms engaged in critical healthcare supply can avail of loans up to Rs. 100 crore, repayable in 10 years, SBI said.
"The Aarogyam Loan can be availed either as a term loan to support expansion/modernization or as working capital facilities such as cash credit, bank guarantee/letter of credit. In metro centres loans under Aarogyam can be availed up to Rs100 crore, Tier I and Urban centres up to ₹20 crore and in Tier II to Tier VI centres up to ₹10 crore," it further stated.
Moreover, the beneficiary availing the loan of up to ₹2 crore will not be required to offer any collateral or security to the bank as this will be covered under the guarantee scheme of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).
Launching the product, Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI, said, “Our Healthcare system has been providing uninterrupted and phenomenal support over the last year to the country amidst the pandemic. Acknowledging and recognizing their contribution in the wake of Covid-19, we are glad to launch the Aarogyam Healthcare Business Loan for them. We believe this special loan product will provide the much needed financial support to enable expansion/modernization of existing facilities and also creation of new facilities. With Aarogyam Healthcare Business Loan, our endeavour is towards strengthening the healthcare infrastructure across the entire country."
Aarogyam Healthcare Business Loan will be eligible under the COVID loan book being created by banks announced by RBI as part of COVID relief measures.
Earlier, the lender had launched a collateral-free unique loan offering – ‘Kavach Personal Loan’. The loan covers expenses of COVID treatment of self and family members of the customer.
Under this scheme, customers can avail of loans up to ₹5 lakh at an effective interest rate of 8.5% per annum for 60 months which is inclusive of three months moratorium. The product is being offered under the collateral-free personal loan category and comes at the cheapest rate of interest under this segment. Reimbursement of expenses already incurred for COVID related medical expenses shall also be provided under the scheme.
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