Edelweiss to infuse Rs 180 cr into housing fin arm

Edelweiss Group is planning to infuse around Rs 180 crore equity into its housing finance arm Edelweiss Housing Finance Limited (EHFL). The infusion will support the company's target of achieving an around Rs 2,000-crore loan book by the end of the current financial year, from Rs 780 crore as on March 2012.

“The parent company has so far been our source (for money). Now, we are planning to go and borrow from mutual funds, banks and the National Housing Bank (NHB). Besides, the company is looking at issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and commercial papers to raise funds,” EHFL chief vice-president Anil Kothuri said, after launching EHFL’s operations in Chennai

The company is planning to borrow around Rs 950 crore this financial year, while the parent would infuse around Rs 180 crore.

“As we speak now, the loan book size of EHFL is around Rs 900 crore,” Kothuri said, adding that around Rs 10 crore of this was from lending to the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) segment, a business it has launched very recently.

The company expects the disbursement to SMEs to go up to around Rs 400 crore by the end of the current financial year. The housing loan disbursement, which is the main business, would grow to around Rs 1,600 crore by March 2013.

The company is currently focusing on geographical expansion and would come up with innovative products after 18-24 months in order to grow in the market, Kothuri said.

The company, is currently present in nine cities and is looking at expanding its presence to 10 more cities over the next two years. At present, the housing finance market in the country is estimated to be around Rs 1.90 lakh crore, which is expected to touch Rs 3 lakh crore by March 2015, he added.