Date:21/06/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/06/21/stories/2004062101671300.htm

Back Indian Bank's `Swarna Abharana' begins to glitter

Our Bureau

Coimbatore , June 20

THOUGH banks have been extending financial support for buying jewellery from leading jewel houses for quite some time now, they have never been as aggressive as Indian Bank is, at present. The enthusiasm is visible from the number of tie-ups that the bank has announced in the last one month.

The launch of the `Swarna Abharana Scheme' aimed at enabling the womenfolk purchase jewellery has come as a boon, as a majority of households in the middle and upper middle-class families resort to buying the jewel (during times of need) by swiping the credit card and repaying their dues at high.

As per the scheme, self-employed women including housewives are eligible for a loan of up to Rs 2 lakh, repayable over a period of 60 months at a fixed interest rate of 10.5 per cent per annum. If the value of the jewel(s) for which the borrower has sought financial assistance exceeds Rs 50,000, the bank levies a service charge at 0.5 per cent.