Facebook offers loans as small as ₹500,000 to businesses in India

Facebook will offer loans to small businesses in India, the first country where the social media giant is rolling out the program.

India is turning into fertile ground for tech firms that offer services from everything from finance to food delivery and education. (REUTERS)

Facebook Inc. will offer loans to small businesses in India, the first country where the social media giant is rolling out the program.

Partner Indifi will offer credit to firms that advertise on Facebook, the California-based company said in a statement Friday, following an event featuring representatives of industry and the government. The loans will range from 500,000 rupees ($6,720) to 5 million rupees and charge interest rates of 17%-20%, potentially without collateral. 

India is turning into fertile ground for tech firms that offer services from everything from finance to food delivery and education. Amazon.com Inc. this week made its maiden investment in India's wealth management sector, participating in a $40 million round by fintech startup Smallcase Technologies Pvt. Facebook's Whatsapp also offers a digital payments service.

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“We are at the spear end of the digital transformation and we believe that the Small Business Loans Initiative can provide big impetus to early entrepreneurs to fuel their ideas and their appetite for taking risks,” said Ajit Mohan, Facebook managing director for India. The program is open to businesses registered across 200 towns and cities in the country.