Poonawalla Finance ties up with ICSI to offer special loans to company secretaries

A tie-up with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) comes following the success the NBFC, which lends only digitially and 100 per cent colalteral-free loans, has achieved after tying up with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in August.

Poonawalla Finance, the financial services arm of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group that owns the world's largest vaccines producer Serum Institute of India, is eyeing Rs 500 crore loan sales to company secretaries over the next one year under a special arrangement. A tie-up with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) comes following the success the NBFC, which lends only digitially and 100 per cent colalteral-free loans, has achieved after tying up with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in August. Since then, it has sold over Rs 300 crore loans to over 3,000 CAs.

"We entered into a tie-up with the ICSI on Wednesday. The body has over 65,000 members and we are planning to disburse at least Rs 500 crore loans to the members over the next 12 months," Poonawalla Finance Managing Director Abhay Bhutada told PTI from Pune. His optimism comes from the success seen with a similar alliance with the ICAI in August, under which it sold over Rs 300 crore to over 3,000 CAs.

Poonawalla Finance has an outstanding loan book of around Rs 1,150 crore and it prices loans at 9.99-11.99 per cent. Bhutada said the tie-up is to offer special collateral-free term loans to company secretaries. The pact offers no processing fee for loans up to 36 months, zero prepayment charges, and fully digital processing, he said.

There is also an option to take over higher priced existing loans, he added. The loan amount ranges from Rs 2 lakh to 30 lakh with a flexible repayment tenure up to 60 months.

Poonawalla Finance, started in April 2019, is a non-deposit-taking NBFC and is part of the USD 12-billion Cyrus Poonawalla Group, which is known for the Serum Institute of India and the stud farms. The Pune-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) has an AUM of over Rs 2,000 crore and focuses on professionals and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The promoters have, so far, infused Rs 850 crore equity into the company and is ready to infuse more to drive growth..

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