Sidbi to set up Industrial estate for SMEs

Hyderabad: The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) to invest Rs 100 crore and keen on partnering the Andhra Pradesh State Financial Corporation (APSFC) for developing a multi-utility industrial estate and facilitate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) set up their manufacturing base there.

APSFC had been allotted 271 acres by the state government at Gajularamaram on the outskirts of Hyderabad, asset value of which would be Rs 1,000 crore. It has roped in Crisil to chalk out an action plan with a dual purpose of creating continuous revenue streams to the corporation, besides evaluating operationally viable industrial sectors that could be promoted at the estate, A Giridhar, managing director of APSFC, told mediapersons here on Wednesday.

'Sidbi has agreed to invest around Rs 100 crore in the industrial estate, while the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (Hudco) has evinced interest in equity participation. Crisil is expected to submit the project report in one-and-a-half months and we would start executing work on it by this year end. The development of the estate would cost the corporation anywhere between Rs 70 crore and Rs 80 crore,' he said.

APSFC also has capital assets including one acre in Hyderabad where it is constructing a six-storey building and an acre in Visakhapatham where work on a tower is under way at an outlay of Rs 20 crore.

'We intend to shift our headquarters to the new complex in Hyderabad and share the additional space in the city as well as in Vizag with small and medium financial institutions. Both the projects would be operational during this year,' Giridhar said.

Meanwhile, the corporation today held a projects' screening committee meeting and received viable business development proposals worth Rs 351 crore from 80 entrepreneurs in Rangareddy, Sangareddy, Medak and Nizamabad districts. These include Rs 22 crore from the food products and agro-based sector, Rs 86 crore from engineering, mechanical and allied industries, Rs 43 crore from drugs, pharmaceuticals and chemicals and Rs 87 crore from tourism-related activities.

'In all, the corporation sanctioned Rs 1,005 crore new loans last year, of which Rs 675 crore had already be disbursed while the rest would be disbursed in two to three months. This year, our target is to sanction Rs 1,250 crore worth of loans, a growth of 25 per cent over last year,' Giridhar said.

The corporation had wiped out its accumulated losses, and turned around with a net profit of Rs 90 crore last year on account of efficient loan recovery and asset management measures. This year, it expects a net profit of Rs 100 crore, he added. The corporation, at present, has an asset base of Rs 1,400 crore.