Public sector Indian Bank has been actively taking key steps to simplify accounting and demystifying terms in the world of finance. The city-based bank has rolled out vernacular online mentoring training programmes under the ‘MSME Prerna’ initiative.

Padmaja Chunduru, MD-CEO, Indian Bank, said in a virtual ‘Women Leadership Coffee Connect session’ the first such organised by MCCI under the ‘Women Business Council’ that such training sessions have been formally rolled out in Tamil to cover entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu, Marathi for those in Maharashtra and Hindi for the people in Uttar Pradesh. Gujarati and Bengali training programmes are on the anvil.

“These are 10 to 12 hour sessions that will outline the basics of business incorporating aspects such as ecommerce and marketing. Basically covering the rudimentary elements of finance to instill confidence in those steering the micro, small and medium and enterprises,” she said, noting that already over 500 entrepreneurs had been trained under the programme. So, all those accounting terms that bothered new business owners will be a thing of the past.

For the business mentoring initiative, Indian Bank has tied up with an entity based out of Madurai. 

Incidentally, Indian Bank has also created a fund for MSME start-ups named ‘IND Spring Board’ about six months ago. Under this programme, it has signed partnerships with IIT-Madras, IISC Bengaluru, IIT-Guwahati. 

The bank supports start-ups by extending credit facilities upto Rs 50 crore for working capital requirements also fund-based term loans for acquiring fixed assets for their unit. On Thursday, Indian Bank signed an MoU with IIT Guwahati Technology Incubation Centre for funding eligible start-ups under this scheme of the bank.

“We will be signing a pact with IIT-Mumbai soon,” Chunduru added. This will enable the start-ups to access loans at competitive rates and avail government subsidies too, a welcome move considering that the Reserve Bank of India has accorded priority sector status to such entities.