New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): Indian Bank plans to digitise MSME loans of up to Rs 5 crore through a unified digital platform that will automate customer onboarding, loan processing and documentation, to reduce turnaround time and enable a seamless, paperless lending journey, the banks Chief General Manager Sujay Malik said on Wednesday.

'We are trying gradually that up to Rs 5 crores, you people should not go to the branch and your applications don't get lagged that it's taking 25 days, 30 days, 40 days, even 50 days, more than one month. To reduce that lag, that has been a constraint for all of you MSME people. We are trying to bring all these digital journeys,' Malik said while addressing customers during Indian Bank's 120th Foundation Day celebrations in Delhi.

Explaining the initiative, Malik said the bank is developing a unified portal on its website and mobile application to help MSME customers identify the most suitable loan products based on automatically retrieved financial information.

'Every customer doesn't know which product is best for him. We have around 10, 12, 13, 14 products. We are making a unified portal on our bank's website and on our app. Once an MSME customer enters PAN, GST and Udyam Registration Number, everything will be fetched automatically. GST, Udyam certificate, CIBIL report and bank statements will be fetched through account aggregators and APIs. A rule engine will work in the background and recommend five products best suited for your business along with the best rate of interest,' he said.

Malik said that after a customer selects a product, the application will move digitally to the branch and sanctioning authority. According to him, the bank aims to provide an in-principle sanction in around 30 minutes, following which the sanctioning authority will conduct the required visit to the business premises and residence before the final sanction is issued electronically.

He said the bank has launched MSME GST, which will go live within seven days.

'With your GST return, we will calculate the amount of loan that we can give to you. There is digital documentation also. An OTP will go to you and once authenticated, the documents will be digitally signed. You don't have to sign any physical document. Very few banks have taken this type of initiative. We want to do everything digitally end-to-end seamlessly to save customers' time as well as promote paperless banking,' he said.

Earlier, Malik said Indian Bank launched its nationwide Customer Outreach and Credit Outreach Programme from Delhi as part of its 120th Foundation Day celebrations and plans to organise similar outreach programmes across the country to strengthen engagement with customers and entrepreneurs.

According to Malik, Indian Bank has 6,003 branches with a global business of approximately Rs 15.30 lakh crore as of June 2026, including deposits of Rs 8.42 lakh crore and advances of Rs 6.85 lakh crore. He said Retail, Agriculture and MSME (RAM) account for 66 per cent of the bank's advances, with the segment growing at around 15 per cent.

Malik said the bank serves around 13.35 lakh MSME customers with an MSME portfolio of more than Rs 1.10 lakh crore and has established around 85 MSME Processing Centres to improve loan turnaround time. He added that the bank remains focused on financing manufacturing, services and traditional industries through specialised branches and relationship managers.

Highlighting the Delhi-NCR region, Malik said it contributes around 4.45 per cent of Indian Bank's total MSME business and has recorded 17.5 per cent growth. He said the region has three dedicated processing centres, five industry-specific clusters out of 73 across India, 19 MSME Trust branches, one specialised MSME branch and three mid-corporate branches.

Malik said branches under FGMO Delhi mobilised loan proposals worth Rs 1,254 crore, while loans worth around Rs 474 crore were sanctioned during the outreach programme. He also noted that MSMEs contribute more than 30 per cent of India's GDP and said Indian Bank will continue expanding digital banking initiatives, including its MSME Smart app and other digital journeys, to improve customer experience.

Indian Bank today approved close to 500 Crore MSME Loans in a credit outreach programme held in New Delhi as a part of its 120th Foundation Day fortnight celebrations. Sanction Tickets were handed over to 128 beneficiaries by MD&CEO, Binod Kumar.

Indian Bank is holding a series of mega loan melas, CSR initiatives, digital banking programmes and customer outreach activities across the country to observe the 120th Foundation Day fortnight celebrations. The occasion is marked by mobilising credit proposals worth Rs 1250 Crores, reflecting a strong pipeline for future business growth.

The programme also witnessed the launch of the Unified MSME Portal, a digital platform aimed at providing a seamless and integrated banking experience for MSME customers, reinforcing the Bank's focus on technology-driven service delivery. (ANI)