SME Banking Conclave 2013

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the driving force for the economic growth of India by contributing 45% to industrial output, 40% to exports and providing employment to over 70 million people. While SMEs are crucial in integrating any economic system with the society, they face numerous challenges - the most prominent amongst them being the availability of low-cost and timely finances for growth and expansion. At the same time, lack of awareness of financial products and the procedures involved has been another hindrance for decreased credit flow to the SMEs. The statistics obtained from RBI indicate that credit flow towards SMEs increased by 32% in 2011 as compared to 2010 while it grew by just 9% in 2012 as compared to 2011.