Sachin Bansal-led Navi group's credit finance firm gets stable rating for Rs 500 cr debt

Sachin Bansal-led Navi group's credit finance firm, Chaitanya, on Wednesday said Crisil has given a stable (A-) rating for its bank borrowings of up to Rs 500 crore.

This rating has come at a time when the industry is reeling under lockdown, mandated to curb the deadly coronavirus, Chaitanya said in a release.

Chaitanya's ratings have also been upgraded to BBB+ (stable) /A2+ by ICRA for financial instruments amounting to Rs 358 crore.

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As per ICRA, the stable outlook factors in the comfortable capital and liquidity profile of the group, which would support its medium-term growth plans, it said.

Chaitanya CEO Anand Rao said, "The rating upgrade Chaitanya has got in these challenging times, reflects our strong capital position post becoming part of Navi group. This together with our solid track record and synergies with Navi will help us continue our growth once we move beyond the current COVID-19 situation."

Sachin Bansal, MD & CEO, Navi, said, "The ratings upgrade is particularly welcome at this time as it recognises the robust fundamentals of the Group. The Group is expected to venture into, and scale-up lending portfolio in new asset classes, including digital lending in the near term."

Furthermore, the additional funding commitment given by Navi would aid Chaitanya's growth plans over the medium term, the company added further.

Chaitanya caters to low income families in Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand by providing two-wheeler loans and housing loans, besides microfinance.

Chaitanya India Fin Credit Pvt Ltd (CIFCPL), owned by Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Pvt Ltd (CRIDS), was founded in 2009.

In 2019, Sachin Bansal acquired CRIDS with a total infusion of Rs 739 crore through his holding firm Navi Technologies.

On April 13, Sachin Bansal was appointed Managing Director of Navi Technologies, his second entrepreneurial venture in the space of financial services after he exited from the ecommerce marketplace.

According to filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), the board of Navi Technologies has passed the resolution to announce the appointment of Sachin Bansal as Managing Director.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)