Indian Bank

Indian Bank is a public sector bank founded in 1907 and headquartered in Chennai. It operates 5,965 branches, with total assets of approximately Rs 949,690.30 crore on the latest published figures.

Indian Bank is headquartered in Chennai and operates 5,965 branches, with total assets near Rs 9.5 lakh crore. Its network is heavily weighted toward Tamil Nadu and the southern states, where it has one of the deepest branch presences of any public sector lender.

Its role in the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups. Indian Bank is one of 40 institutions registered with the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company as a CGSS Member Institution (NCGTC MLI ID 7, classified as a public sector bank). Member Institutions are the lenders that actually extend credit under the scheme: you borrow from Indian Bank, and NCGTC guarantees Indian Bank against your default. That guarantee is what allows the facility to be extended to a DPIIT-recognised startup without collateral, with cover of up to Rs 20 crore per borrower, being 85 percent of the amount in default on loans up to Rs 10 crore and 75 percent above that.

What this means in practice. For a startup based in Chennai, Coimbatore or the wider south, that concentration means local sanctioning authority and a branch network that understands regional business patterns. Approach the MSME desk with your DPIIT certificate and audited monthly financials.

The terms are the bank's, not the scheme's. This is the point founders most often miss. CGSS fixes the guarantee, not the loan. The interest rate, tenure, moratorium, repayment schedule and how the Annual Guarantee Fee is passed through to you are all set by Indian Bank under its own credit policy, and they differ materially between Member Institutions for an identical borrower. Nor does registration oblige Indian Bank to lend: it appraises you on its normal credit standards first and applies the guarantee second. Approaching more than one Member Institution is almost always worth the effort.