CSC, SIDBI ink pact for financial support to village level entrepreneurs

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that operates Common Service centres (CSCs).

What are CSCs?

• The CSC is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), approved by the Government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale.
• The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as well as other private services. A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills.

About SIDBI:

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) set up on 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament, acts as the Principal Financial Institution for Promotion, Financing and Development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector as well as for co-ordination of functions of institutions engaged in similar activities.
• The MSME sector, the focused business domain for SIDBI, has been an important pillar of the Indian Economy, contributing up to 33% in the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA) as per FY 2014-15, with 51 million enterprises providing employment to over 117 million Indians.
• Over the years, SIDBI has been working towards the sustainable development of MSME sector, pioneering efforts that have manifested in creation of economic wealth, its distribution for an egalitarian society while preserving the ecological wealth of the country.
• These include the innovative Credit Plus model, where credit is supplemented with advisory and mentoring facilities to MSMEs.
• Some of SIDBI’s other revolutionary initiatives include the MFI-led Microfinance movement in India that has nurtured and strengthened more than 100 MFIs and facilitated creation of SFBs, introducing a culture of energy efficient and sustainable finance for the MSME sector, introducing Venture Capital, Risk Capital, Reverse Factoring and other innovative facilities that have been later adopted by various public and private players in the country.

By: Vishal