NT NETWORK
Panaji
State-owned EDC reduced its interest rates across tenors by one per cent, on Friday. The new loan rates for borrowers now range between 9.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively from the previously 10.5 per cent and 13.5 per cent.
The interest rate cuts are effective from July 1 this month.
The EDC had a board of directors’ meeting in the morning to discuss and approve the company’s future business plan.
Towards gearing up for the changed business environment in the wake of the ongoing COVID pandemic, the board decided to lower the interest rates and also ease the process of availing loans by borrowers.
Post-meeting, K V Ballikar, managing director of the EDC said that the interest rates were lowered as it was due for review.
“Periodically, the interest rates are revised to remain competitive in the market. With banks lowering their lending rates, we also had to bring down our coupon rates to be on par with rivals,” he said.
Ballikar added that to ease the lending procedures, the board decided to reduce the processing time by simplifying the loan application and removing some of the formalities needed for approval. The new lending norm aims to complete the preliminary loan approval within seven days and the sanction in two weeks.
“EDC loans are presently the cheapest in the market. With the state government offering an interest rebate on the loans through the modified interest rate (MIR) scheme, the net interest paid by a borrower actually works out to less than the existing bank rate,” he disclosed.
Under the MIR Scheme, a borrower gets interest rebate of about nine per cent, which includes rebate to a new entrepreneur, additional two per cent for setting up the unit in a backward taluka and further two per cent if it is woman entrepreneur.
During the previous financial year of 2020-21, the EDC had about 42 borrowers with total loans valued at Rs 4 crore eligible for loans under the MIR Scheme.
The only state undertaking to make profit, the EDC, presently, offers five types of loans. These include, loans to state government corporations, term loans to local industrial units, CMRY loans, personal loans to government employees and loans under the Goa Tribal Employment Generation (GTEG)
scheme.
The EDC board meeting was attended by Sadanand Shet Tanavade, chairman, directors and senior officials of the organisation.
For 2020-21, the EDC has announced provisional revenue of Rs 115 crore and a profit of Rs 84 crore, as against revenue of Rs 101 crore and profit of Rs 54 crore in the previous year.