Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd is looking to buy stressed infrastructure assets.
The company lends for financing infrastructure projects across sectors such as roads, ports, mining and power as well as purchase of infrastructure equipment.
Management changeAccording to Hemant Kanoria, Chairman and Managing Director, Srei, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is likely to lead to a change in management of many stressed infrastructure assets.
As such, Srei will look at acquisitions and a possible turnaround of these stressed assets. “We are looking at it (buying stressed assets) but we have not identified anything so far,” Kanoria told
The infrastructure finance business, which was adversely affected due to a combination of internal factors including rise in non-performing loans and external factors such as demand slowdown and government policies, is expected to see a turnaround this year.
However, Kanoria expects that with an increased government outlay for infrastructure, the demand growth in the segment will be robust.
The bank’s constraints in taking up fresh lending will also provide an opportunity for asset and infrastructure finance companies to come in and fill-up the gap.
Talking about some of Srei’s non-performing loans, Kanoria said, “We made some mistakes in the past, but we have learnt from it. We will be more careful of not repeating those mistakes again. We have been prudent in our recovery process.”
Meanwhile, Sahaj, a Srei-associate company will explore a variety of options that include tying up with FMCG companies to shore up its income.
FMCG also on radar“We are exploring all possible options, we could look at FMCG companies as well,” he said. Sahaj is expected to turn EBITDA positive this fiscal.
Launched initially to provide government-to-consumer services through the concept of common service centres, Sahaj has diversified and started offering business-to-consumer services.
“In our earlier model, we were dependent on the central and state government for scaling up the business. But now we have changed the model. We hope this platform to do well in the near future,” he said. Sahaj currently has 66,500 service centres spread across 23 States and Union Territories. It now acts as a business correspondent for banks, distributes insurance products, accepts utility bill payments, offers e-commerce and e-learning services, facilitates enrolment of Aadhaar and Pan Card, and provides many other allied services.