Canara Bank plans to fund coffee start-ups.

The public sector Canara Bank is drawing up a plan to fund start-ups involved in the entire coffee supply chain including grinding, roasting, mixing and even setting up cafes.

'Canara bank is ready to offer up to Rs. 1 crore as loans and the task to identify entrepreneurs lie with the Coffee Board,' Ravindra Bhandari, General manager, Canara Bank, told Business Line on the sidelines of India International Coffee Festival.

'In addition to indentifying entrepreneurs, the Board is planning to offer 25 per cent subsidy, with a cap of Rs. 25 lakh,' he added.

The bank is planning to treat loans to coffee entrepreneurs under CGMSE without guarantees. 'At present we have not set any target or number of loans to be disbursed under the scheme. This will be offered in all our branches in a month or two. Then aggressively push it as a separate business in the next fiscal,' said Bhandari.