Adani Capital To Provide Working Capital To 1,500 Village Level Entrepreneurs In Next 3 Months

Non-banking financial services firm Adani Capital will provide working capital to 1,500 village level entrepreneurs running CSC Grameen eStores in the next three months under a collaboration with state-managed CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, an official statement said on Tuesday.
     
At present, 10,000 VLEs (village level entrepreneurs) are empanelled with CSC Grameen e-Stores, who act as distributors on the digital rural marketplace created by CSC e-Grameen Stores, helping corporates in last mile direct distribution of their products, which includes FMCG, consumer durables, home appliances, vehicles, etc.
     
"Currently, approval for business loans have been provided to as many as 100 VLEs empanelled with CSC Grameen eStores, while 1,500 VLEs will be covered in the next three months," CSC e-Governance said in a statement.
     
CSC, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, launched Grameen e-Store in April 2020 that offers a range of products including local handicrafts, groceries, consumer durables and automobiles in far-flung areas.
     
Adani Group has about 10 per cent stake in the CSC SPV's e-commerce subsidiary CSC Grameen eStore.
     
"VLEs running Grameen eStores leverage demand for various products and service it through CSCs' tie-ups with manufacturers. Like any business, working capital is key to sustainable growth and with our tie-up with Adani Capital, we have been able to address VLEs' financing requirements and that too digitally," said Sanjay Rakesh, MD and CEO of CSC SPV.
     
Currently, 3.64 lakh Grameen eStores are functional across the country and have touched the business of Rs 642.77 crore since its launch.
     
CSC has tied up with Adani Capital, a leading NBFC, to provide working capital to VLEs for which the latter has implemented a completely digital financial solution.
     
"Currently there are over 10,000 such VLEs empanelled with CSC e-Grameen Stores and we aim to scale up this financing programme in next three months to cover more than 1,500 such VLEs. Creating a seamless, convenient onboarding and underwriting digital journey is what we are looking at. This is in coherence with our vision of supporting microentrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas," Adani Capital MD and CEO Gaurav Gupta said.