Trident Microfin Ltd has started lending in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh setting aside the setback it received in Andhra Pradesh.

The Hyderabad-based company, which has an outstanding portfolio of Rs 106 crore in Andhra Pradesh, will gradually expand its foot-print outside Andhra Pradesh, its Chief Executive Officer, Mr P. Kishore Kumar, told Business Line here on Wednesday. Trident has no immediate worries on repayment of its bank loans as it could secure a corporate debt restructuring package of about Rs 127 crore from a consortium of banks.

This was part of the Rs 5,000-crore CDR (corporate debt restructuring) package extended to leading MFIs in Andhra Pradesh – Spandana Spoorthy Financial Services, Share Microfin and Asmita besides Trident in June this year.

The disbursals in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh now stood at Rs 32 crore, accounting for 28 per cent of its total outstanding portfolio.

“We are talking to banks for mobilising funds. Once this comes through, we plan to expand our reach in non-Andhra Pradesh regions further,'' Mr Kishore Kumar said.

The company has also entered into non-microfinance credit such as extending loans to educational institutions.

“Small schools are being given loans up to Rs 3 lakh. We started this as a pilot earlier. The response has been good and this will be scaled up,” he added.

Clarity on regulation

On the industry scenario, Mr Kishore Kumar said that the Reserve Bank of India's norms on MFI-non-banking finance companies issued early this month provided better clarity on regulatory mechanism for MFIs.

nagsridhu@thehindu.co.in

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