Source: Business Standard.

Original article available online.

Tiruchy-based non-banking finance company (NBFC) Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance (GVMFL) is planning to raise around Rs 100 crore (USD 21 million) by way of non-convertible debentures (NCD) over the next three months. The money will be utilised to support company’s expansion plan, said S Devaraj, chairman and managing director, GVMFL.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai today he said that the company is planning to add 61 branches which would take up total number of branches to 215 from the current 154. Currently, the 25-year old NBFC caters to 4 lakh people and set a target to increase it to 7.5 lakh with a total disbursement of around Rs 350 crore during the current fiscal compared to Rs 240 crore last year. The company has crossed cumulative loan disbursement of Rs 1,000 crore as on July 2009.

Around 90 per cent of the loans are general loans for livelihood and entrepreneurial promotions with an average size of Rs 7,000, while business loans would be in the range of Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 and seasonal loans amounts to the remaining 10 per cent.

At present, the company operates in Tamil Nadu and planning to foray into Karantaka and Kerala during the current fiscal.

The NBFC-backed by Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun Microsystems, has received second round of equity amounting to $4.25 million (around Rs 21.2 crore) from private equity investors including Micro Vest, Amar Foundation and Unitus Equity Fund last year.