Providing banking facilities and credit line to traditional or unorganised retailers in the country remains one of the major focus areas for ICICI Bank this year.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Retail Estate Summit, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, V Vaidyanathan, executive director of ICICI Bank, said that organised retail is still at a very nascent stage in India, and a large part of the bank’s credit facilities goes to the traditional retailers. “A significant portion of the ICICI Bank credit goes to the unorganised segment, with total exposure amounting to Rs 10,000 crore. Till date, over one million accounts have been opened across India, mainly for the small-time shoppers, kiranas and small enterprises,” he added.
According to a survey done by ICICI Bank, extension of the banking and credit facilities to the unorganised sector has brought around 30 per cent improvement in their efficiency.
“As of now, the exposure in unorganised retailing is higher than exposure in organised retailing, but we will definitely increase the latter’s share as and when it grows,” Vaidyanathan added.
