Jain Irrigation gets RBI nod for NBFC

Micro irrigation company Jain Irrigation Systems (JISL) today said it has obtained regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank to launch a Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC), Sustainable Agro-commercial Finance (SAFL).

The NBFC, to commence business activities in the post monsoon period, will focus its activities on farms and farmers only and operate in the rural and semi urban geographies of the country, JISL said in a release issued here.

SAFL will be the first NBFC in the country to provide agri-loans with a wide and diverse range of financing options for almost every agricultural need.

The main products will include MIS financing, agri project financing, contract farming, small business loans,

solar pumps and appliances financing, third party tie-ups among others.

SAFL, headquartered in Mumbai, is in an advanced stage of setting up around 25 offices in Maharashtra by end August.

The NBFC is targeting 40 offices in Maharashtra by December 2012.

Subsequently, in the second phase, offices will also be opened in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Phase three will cover offices in remaining states.

A pan India presence through a network of around 150 offices is envisaged in a period of 3-4 years.

SAFL is a joint venture between Jain Irrigation and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group as equity shareholders with some banks and financial institutions joining the equity shareholding at a later stage.

SAFL will be headquartered in Mumbai and will start operations in the post-monsoon period, it said.

"It is in an advanced stage of setting up around 25 offices in Maharashtra by end-August 2012 ... another 15 offices in Maharashtra are scheduled to be opened by December 2012, it added.

In the second phase, the NBFC will open offices in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The third phase will cover offices in remaining states, it said.

... contd.

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