Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd.

Choosing the right product

• A first-time business run by an SC, ST or women entrepreneur: look at the TMB Stand-Up India Loan.
• A micro or small manufacturing, trading or service unit: look at the TMB PMMY (Mudra) Loan.
• A business where women hold at least 51 percent: look at the TMB Mahalir Loan.
• Any other enterprise needing working capital or term finance: look at the TMB MSME and Business Loans.

Before you apply

• For the Stand-Up India Loan, confirm the venture is greenfield, meaning it is your first business.
• For a non-individual entity, confirm that SC, ST or women entrepreneurs hold at least 51 percent ownership and controlling stake.
• Plan for the promoter contribution: 25 percent of project cost, or 10 percent if a subsidy is availed.
• Remember that these are loans you repay, with interest, and check the current rate table on the product page.

How applications work

• Use the Apply online button on the product page to reach the loan lead form.
• Send general questions to customercare@tmb.bank.in.

What the bank looks at

• The product pages list eligibility, margins, repayment periods and security norms, but they do not describe how applications are scored.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd. is a private sector bank founded in 1921 as The Nadar Bank Ltd. in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, and still headquartered there. It lends to individuals and businesses through a branch network that its own pages describe as spanning India.

For a founder, its relevant products are loans. Its loan pages list four that new or small businesses can apply for. None of them is a grant, a subsidy or an equity investment, so the bank is a source of debt finance to plan around, not free money.

What the bank offers founders

The TMB Stand-Up India Loan supports first-time entrepreneurs from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women categories who are setting up a new enterprise. The TMB PMMY Loan offers Mudra loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to micro and small entrepreneurs, in Shishu, Kishore and Tarun variants that suit different business stages. The TMB Mahalir Loan is for women who run micro and small businesses. The TMB MSME and Business Loans cover working capital and term loans for enterprises in manufacturing, trading and services.

Who can apply

Stand-Up India applicants must be SC or ST and/or women entrepreneurs aged 18 or above. The project must be a greenfield venture, which the page defines as a first-time business of the beneficiary, in manufacturing, services or trading. A non-individual entity needs at least 51 percent ownership and controlling stake held by SC, ST or women entrepreneurs.

The Mahalir Loan requires women to hold at least 51 percent of the business, individually or jointly, as partners, shareholders, directors or members. Eligible business forms include partnership firms, LLPs, private limited companies and co-operative societies.

The PMMY Loan is for micro and small owners, including individuals, proprietary concerns, partnerships and small establishments in manufacturing, trading or services. The MSME loans are open to units run by individuals, HUFs, proprietorships, partnership firms and limited companies. Individuals and HUFs must be aged 18 to 50, with relaxations for joint borrowers and certain professionals, as the page sets out.

Collateral and repayment

Stand-Up India loans up to a set limit need no collateral, and the page says they are covered by the credit guarantee scheme for Stand-Up India loans. Larger loans need land or building collateral, or that guarantee coverage. The promoter contributes 25 percent of the project cost, or 10 percent where a central or state subsidy is availed.

Stand-Up India term and composite loans run for a maximum of 7 years, excluding a repayment holiday of up to 18 months. PMMY term loans can be repaid in up to 84 monthly instalments, and the page gives a nil margin on working capital and a 20 percent margin on term loan capex. Interest rates are published on the loan pages and change over time, so check the current table before you apply.

How to apply

Each loan product page has an Apply online button that opens the bank's loan lead form. For general questions, the bank's customer care address is customercare@tmb.bank.in. The pages do not describe the selection steps or the documents needed, so ask the bank directly once you have chosen a product.

Scale and locations

The bank's about page gives 632 branches, and its home page gives 600-plus. The two pages differ, so treat the exact count as unsettled. Its network includes rural, semi-urban and urban non-metro centres. The bank opened its first branch outside Tamil Nadu in Bengaluru in 1976, and its registered head office is at 57, V.E. Road, Tuticorin.

Who runs it

The bank traces its origins to 1921, when it was registered on 11 May and inaugurated on 11 November as The Nadar Bank Ltd. in Tuticorin, under the Nadar business community. It describes itself as a bank that extends services to rural areas and non-metro centres, and as a participant in government-sponsored schemes.