The total income was Rs 1,579 crore, marking a rise of 12 per cent over the last year's Rs 1,409 crore. An amount of Rs 67.50 crore will be transferred to Industrial Development Bank of India's (IDBI) as return on capital at 15 per cent. Sidbi's assistance to tiny projects had a share of 97 per cent by way of number of units and 49 per cent by way of amount sanctioned under refinance assistance. Assistance to backward area constituted 31 per cent of the bank's sanctions, besides undertaking special developmental activities in far flung areas ofthe country.

The direct and indirect assistance under technology development and modernisation fund scheme recorded nearly four-fold increase from Rs 52 crore during 1997-98 to Rs 242 crore during 1998-99. Venture capital assistance was Rs 86 crore registering a growth rate of 46 per cent during 1998-99. Disbursements under the scheme recorded a growth rate of 53 per cent.

During the year, Sidbi in collaboration with concerned state governments launched six software and it industry dedicated state level venture capital funds in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Punjab. Five more such state level dedicated funds are likely to be launched soon. The bank also took initiative in setting up a national fund for software and it industry with a corpus of Rs 100 crore in association with Department of Electronics, GoI, other FIs and NRIs.