The government is in talks with foreign lenders to provide as much as $14.5 billion (Rs 1 lakh crore) in credit to millions of small Indian firms, two officials said, in a sign the country’s banking system may not be robust enough to do the job on its own.

The government is in discussions with multiple foreign lenders, including Germany’s state-owned development bank KfW Group, the World Bank and some Canadian institutions to extend lines of credit to small enterprises, one of the officials, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.

To mitigate the risks for the foreign banks, the loans would be given sovereign guarantees and be routed through Indian government agencies such as the Small Industries Development Bank of India, the official said. A sovereign guarantee is a promise by the government to discharge a third person’s liability if he defaults.

KfW’s India office confirmed the discussions, though the focus was on credit lines to support small businesses’ solar power generation. The talks were at an early stage, KfW said.

The World Bank’s India spokesperson did not reply to an email seeking comment.

The Indian official said the government planned to source these loans from foreign institutions because Indian banks were not in a position to provide enough capital for the small business sector, which is seen as critical to job creation.

“We are exploring, we are having discussions with various funding agencies if something can be done (for small and medium firms),” the second official said.

The officials did not give full details of the discussions they were having with banks, or identify all those they were talking to, but said the talks were at a very early stage.