Yes Bank Gets $150 Million To Fund SME Lending

Private sector Yes Bank has received $150 million funding from the US government and Wells Fargo to increase lending to support women entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises in India.

This is the third round of funding to the bank as part of arrangement with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) - the US government development finance institution - and Wells Fargo.

Under the agreement, OPIC will provide $75 million in financing and up to $75 million in syndicated financing jointly arranged by Wells Fargo Bank to Yes Bank, a statement said.

$50 million of the financing would be used to expand support to women-owned businesses, while another equal amount will be used for financing SME business in low-income states, it said.

An MoU in this regard was signed by Dev Jagadesan, OPIC's Acting president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Arun Agrawal, Group President International Banking, Yes Bank.

Rana Kapoor, managing director and CEO, Yes BANK said the facility would support financing to women entrepreneurs in India for driving future economic growth and job creation.

This is the third transaction between OPIC and Yes Bank and comes close on the heels of last year's $265 million OPIC facility, which the bank will use to extend SME financing in India, Yes Bank said in its regulatory filing.

SMEs contribute about 45 per cent of industrial output and employ 42 million people in India. An estimated three million women-owned businesses in India employ over eight million people.

However, only about a quarter of them are able to get the finance they need to grow and create jobs.

(PTI)