In the aftermath of the devastating Panshet floods, MCCIA played a significant role in helping Pune's business, trade and industry get back on its feet. Indeed, MCCIA has contributed a great deal in making Pune one of India's leading industrial hubs and an important epicentre of the country's automobile and IT sectors. Here's a glimpse at the organization which was instrumental in tapping Pune's potential for enterprise and innovation.
July 12, 1961 is a date forever etched in the memory of every Pune citizen. Following heavy rains, the Panshet and Khadakwasla dams were breached and the roaring flood waters wreaked havoc in the city. Alongside the tragic loss of human lives, and the destruction of houses, shops and property on an unprecedented scale, several factories and industrial workshops along the river bank were deluged, suffering crippling losses and damages.
At this difficult juncture, one organization took the unique initiative of collecting donations with the objective of funding business and industrial re-construction activity in Pune. The idea was to use the donation amount collected as a collateral to the banks for providing loans, almost about 5 times the collateral amount, to business and industrial units in Pune affected by the floods.
Perhaps MCCIA can therefore rightfully claim credit for successfully conceptualizing and implementing the first mutual credit guarantee scheme in the world, way back in 1961, almost 5 decades before the rest of the world started deploying it. Under this innovative credit guarantee scheme, bank loans amounting to Rs 58 lakhs were made available to flood affected Pune businesses and industries, which provided them the much needed financial assistance to put their outfits back on track. In fact, the bulk of these loans were extended by Bank of Maharashtra, which again was established by MCCIA itself in 1935.
