India's North Central Railway (NCR) has held a vendor meeting at its headquarters in Allahabad, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, to persuade its suppliers to use domestic letters of credit (L/Cs) when doing business with the railway company.

The meeting was chaired by NCR's general manager, Rajiv Chaudhry, and was organised jointly by the railway company and State Bank of India, the country's central bank.

Made in India

The state-owned railway is promoting the use of domestic L/Cs to support the government's Made in India initiative which aims to grow the country's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The railway is one of India's biggest buyers of goods and services and would increasingly buy from the country's SMEs if delivery of goods and services were guaranteed under L/C terms.

SME benefits

The railway company is telling SMEs that the benefit of using L/Cs is that they are guaranteed payment on delivery, making it easier for them to obtain credit.

Sometimes referred to as the workhorse of Indian railways, NCR's present network extends over a large area of North Central India, connecting Delhi and the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.

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