Oct. 28: Hyderabad-based microfinance company Basix is looking at Rs 250-crore investments from private equity firms.

Basix’s country manager S. Ramachandran said, “We are looking for private equity capital amounting to Rs 250 crore. However, as of now we are not contemplating listing our shares on any of the bourses. We have a plan to list when our total outstanding loan crosses the Rs 4,000-crore mark. We hope to achieve this in a couple of years.”

According to Ramachandran, Basix’s outstanding loans stood at Rs 1,800 crore as on September 30. “We are targeting a disbursal of Rs 3,200 crore by the end of this fiscal,” he said.

The company’s net worth stands at Rs 235 crore. Earlier this year, private equity investors had infused Rs 118 crore.

“Our borrowing cost from banks is between 12.5 per cent and 13.5 per cent and our maximum lending rate is 34 per cent,” he said. “While we charge as low as 18 per cent for education and housing loans, the maximum 34 per cent interest is applicable to non-farm loans, such as dairy.”

Basix is present in Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal and is looking to expand its operations in the east.

Andhra Bank stand

Andhra Bank will not stop lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs), chairman and managing director R. Ramachandran said today.

He said as the convener of the State Level Banker’s Committee (SLBC), which comprises five nationalised banks in Andhra Pradesh, the bank had not been given any such mandate by the Reserve Bank of India or the state government .

According to him, Andhra Bank’s advances to MFIs in the state amounted to Rs 450 crore, of which Rs 300 crore were outstanding. “We have no agenda on debt-swapping of the MFIs.”

He said the agenda before the core committee of the SLBC was to streamline lending operations to self-help groups.

Andhra Bank has linked 2.40 lakh members of self-help group with an outlay of Rs 2,187.20 crore. It has introduced smart cards to provide credit to self-help groups through the business correspondent model.

For the second quarter ended September 30, the bank has posted a 24.72 per cent growth in operating profit at Rs 565 crore.

Net profit rose 10.58 per cent to Rs 303 crore.

Total business grew 26.38 per cent to Rs 1,39,604 crore, with deposits at Rs 78,584 crore and advances at Rs 61,020 crore .