ICRA revises FY21 securitisation estimate to Rs 80,000 cr from Rs 1.2 trn

Domestic rating agency ICRA on Thursday revised down its estimate on securitisation for 2020-21 to over Rs 80,000 crore from the earlier Rs 1.2 trillion, blaming the coronavirus pandemic for the slower pick-up.

Volumes of securitisation had stood at Rs 2 trillion in the year-ago period.

Activity in the July-September period picked up to over Rs 15,000 crore as against over Rs 7,000 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal, it was still lower than expected.

For the first half of the current financial year, the overall volumes were over Rs 22,700 crore as against Rs 1 trillion in the year-ago period, the agency said.

According to the rating agency, most non-bank lenders were expected to resort to securitisation to raise funds in the July-September quarter, as seen earlier in September 2018 when liquidity dried up post default by the IL&FS group.

However, because of the host of measures taken by the government and Reserve Bank of India, the availability of on-balance sheet funding for top rated players was strong, thereby reducing dependence on securitisation, the agency said.

"We expect the momentum in securitisation volumes to continue in October-March supported by increased investor confidence, increase in finding requirement of originators as they re-start disbursement and steady easing of business activity as lockdowns end," Abhishek Dafria, vice-president and head of structured finance ratings at the agency, said.

However, tightened eligibility criteria by investors for pool selection and lower quantum of eligible pools available because of lack of fresh disbursements over the past six to seven months could hamper securitisation volume, the agency said.