Canara Bank to announce comprehensive policy to fund startups soon

 Following directives from the Union government, Canara Bank is all set to unveil a comprehensive policy to fund startups in India, noted Rakesh Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank. The nitty-gritty of the policy framework is being worked out and will be announced by end of this month, he said, adding the idea is to fund startups in all areas and not restrict it to just information technology related areas Stock Market Trading Tips

In an interaction with mediapersons on the sidelines of his visit to the circle office here on Monday, Sharma, while keeping the policy details close to his chest hinted that it will be comprehensive and ensure that there are no pitfalls. Acknowledging that the mortality rate of startups are on the higher side, Rakesh said the bank does not want to accumulate more bad debts on its books. "We will go cautious in this front and the policy will have all details," he said.

Keeping in mind the need to roll out more technological products, Rakesh said the bank will launch an exclusive app for the bank's loan products on November 19. "We have also undertaken an upgrade of our systems to launch the proposed roll out of technological products," he said, adding this will also include upgradation of its credit card platform. The fine print of the app to be launched will be made public on the day of the launch, Sharma added Indian stock market astrology prediction

With an eye on further reducing bank's NPAs, a systematic exercise of topline consolidation and bottomline tightening has been taken. The decision to open 250 branches in the current fiscal as against 1,000 last financial year is an instance of top line consolidation, he said, adding the bank has also put in place clear strategy to bring down its gross NPA to less than 4%. Monitoring of loans, e-mega auction and one time settlement of loans too has been taken up, he added.