Chennai, April 23: In a bid to boost the startup ecosystem in India and help the women-led MSMEs in the country, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) part of the World Bank Group has proposed to loan up to $150 million to Bajaj Finance Ltd.

Under the new initiative, Bajaj Finance will increase its lending to MSME segment to about $600 million. According to details by IFC, the proposed $150 million senior loan for up to five years to Bajaj Finance will enable the company to expand its lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and women-owned MSMEs.

Bajaj Finance, which is headquartered in Pune is part of the Bajaj Group,  which is the third-largest non-banking finance company (NBFC) in India. The firm has $4.9 billion equity base and $22.3 billion asset base as of December 31, 2020, IFC said.