The largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) is all set to enter into an agreement with the Gujarat state government in order to facilitate deployment of funds in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

SBI's General Manager, H C Pattnaik said that, "In an exclusive arrangement, we will be signing an MoU with the Gujarat Government during VGGIS-2009 for tapping an expected fund deployment of Rs 20,000 crore."

The memorandum of association (MoU) is expected to be signed by the two parties during the two-day Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit-2009 (VGGIS) to be held in Ahmedabad from January 12th. The Chairman of SBI, Mr OP Bhatt is going to ink the pact on the bank's behalf.

"The incremental growth of MSMEs is between Rs 5,000- 7,000 crore annually, and based on estimates we expect deployment of over Rs 20,000 crore fund during the summit," said Mr Bhatt.

"A help desk of SBI will be set up for guiding the investors during the summit, where fund counselling by SBI Capital and SBI Securities would also be available," added Mr Pattnaik.

SBI is a partner of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), the agency that grants clearance for starting any MSMEs in the state.

Industry sources also claim that Small Industries and Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is also expected to ink an MoU with the State Government during the summit that is held annually in Gujarat.