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<ul><li><keyword id="8188441" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="u-gro" source="Orion">U GRO</keyword> Capital is looking to disburse loans worth ₹2,000 crore by March 2023 with their new alliance with <keyword id="14257101" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="yubi" source="Orion">Yubi</keyword>.</li><li>Separately, the company has an off-book asset under management (AUM) of ₹3,600 crore that they plan to double in the same time frame.</li><li>The lender believes that the alliance would make their partnership with banks much simpler.</li></ul>Lending company U GRO Capital on Wednesday announced a strategic alliance with debt marketplace Yubi (formerly known as CredAvenue) in an attempt to give out small business loans worth ₹2,000 crore to MSMEs by the end of this fiscal year. Separately, the company has an off-book asset under management (AUM) of ₹3,600 crore that they plan to double in the same time frame. The strategic alliance comes with two partnership deals to achieve this target set for the deal. First, between the companies’ co-lending platforms Yubi-Co.Lend and GRO-Xstream. Second, between Yubi's supply chain financing vertical Yubi Flow and U GRO’s offer for end retailers GRO-Line. Shachindra Nath, vice chairperson and managing director of U GRO Capital, in a conversation with Business Insider India noted that Yubi is building a market infrastructure, where they are integrating multiple banks and lenders together to make the co-lending process smoother. He noted that this integration would allow lenders like U GRO to directly transfer all major data of the customer to the co-lending banks, digitizing the entire process. This partnership would actually allow the lending company to enhance their existing co-lending partnership with banks, he added. “Today if I am doing ₹50 crore co-lending with a particular bank. Increasing from ₹50 crore to ₹100 crore is very difficult because banks have to put more people in and we have to put more people in between… If your bank is taking two hours or three hours to process a particular loan case, it will [now] only take five minutes,” Nath added. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The Yubi partnership can help U GRO enhance its co-lending partnerships" comment="subhead" text="The Yubi partnership can help U GRO enhance its co-lending partnerships">The Yubi partnership can help U GRO enhance its co-lending partnerships</cmsannotation> Notably, a co-lending arrangement usually involves two entities — a non-banking finance company (NBFC) and a bank. The NBFC is the front for underwriting a loan, but a majority of that loan is actually facilitated by large financial institutions like a traditional bank. In this case, U GRO being an NBFC, onboards small business owners as borrowers based on several metrics. The company itself only finances 20% of the loan amount, while the rest is financed by traditional banks like State Bank of India and Yes Bank. Any profit, interest or loss is incurred by these two entities in the 20:80 ratio. “It is only 20% of the loan on my (U GRO’s) book. The balance is gone to SBI or any other partner bank, but U GRO would service that loan for the next five-six years. Customer is unimpacted,” Nath explained, emphasizing that this model is globally known as Lending-as-a-Service (LaaS). Nath noted that they are underwriting loans through their tech platform that majorly runs on data points with less human intervention. The banks, on the other hand, access the same loan manually which requires a lot of manpower and time. Therefore, the integration with a tech platform like Yubi would enable their banks to access these loans much faster with the same capacity. “We, at Yubi, are working towards accelerating financial inclusion in the country through a technology-driven credit infrastructure that powers discovery, execution and fulfillment. We are elated to partner with U GRO Capital with a shared vision to bridge the <keyword id="6358354" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="msme" source="Orion">MSME</keyword> credit gap in India by providing credit access to the unserved and underserved sectors in the country,” Gaurav Kumar, founder and CEO of Yubi, said in a statement. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/the-worst-of-the-rupees-decline-might-be-over-as-market-expects-us-fed-to-dial-down-pace-of-hikes/articleshow/93290895.cms">The worst of the rupee's decline might be over as market expects US Fed to dial down pace of hikes</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/markets-on-a-wait-and-watch-mode-as-they-await-cues-from-rbi/articleshow/93290015.cms">Markets on a wait and watch mode as they await cues from RBI</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/as-new-cars-get-pricier-pre-owned-bmws-audis-and-porsches-get-more-attractive/articleshow/93275786.cms">As new cars get pricier, pre-owned BMWs, Audis and Porsches get more attractive</a>

This startup is building infrastructure to automate and ease the process of giving out small biz loans

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6354335" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (RBI) has doubled the exposure threshold for MSMEs looking to apply for restructuring their business. </li><li>The limit was earlier locked in at ₹25 crore, but has been expanded to ₹50 crore in the latest iteration of the monetary policy. </li><li>However, only businesses that have not already exercised the option during the original Resolution Framework are eligible to apply.</li></ul>In a bid to provide some relief to the economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the exposure threshold of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSMEs) to ₹50 crore for them to participate in its <keyword id="11381737" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="resolution-framework-2-0">Resolution Framework 2.0</keyword>. The second iteration of RBI’s restructuring offer was originally introduced in early May but was limited to small businesses with loans upto ₹25 crore. With the ceiling now doubled, MSMEs with a ‘standard’ classification — no defaults and no schemes to back it up — as of 31 March 2021 can approach the bank to help ease the parameters of repayment even if they have a bigger loan hanging overhead. Restructuring of a loan includes measures like extending the moratorium, increasing the tenure of the loan and other changes to terms of payments. “With a view of enabling a larger set of borrowers to avail of the benefits under Resolution Framework 2.0, it has been decided to expand the coverage of borrowers under the scheme by having the maximum aggregate exposure threshold from ₹25 crore to ₹50 crore for MSMEs, non-MSME small businesses and loans to individuals for business purposes,” RBI governor, Shaktikanta Das, told the press on June 4. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Why do MSMEs need their loans to be restructured?" comment="subhead" text="Why do MSMEs need their loans to be restructured?">Why do MSMEs need their loans to be restructured?</cmsannotation> The sale of consumer durables took a big hit during the second wave of COVID-19 in India while regional and state-wide lockdowns disrupted economic activity. While some believe that many businesses will not need to go in for restructuring as the second wave of COVID-19 in India subsides, but as things stand, lockdowns are still in effect in many parts of the country. "The availment of this restructuring scheme will not only ensure smooth flow of liquidity, at reasonable costs but will also benefit the MSME’s in long run by restructuring the account without classifying it as an NPA. Further, it will act as an opportunity for lenders like us to grant surplus financial support that will empower small and medium businesses (SMBs) to progress without obstacles,” Pallavi Shrivastva, co-founder of credit score evaluation company Progcap, said in a statement. The increase in the exposure threshold is also good news for banks, which can now try and save some of the clients on its balance sheets from going under. However, the caveat is the RBI mandate for MSMEs to be registered on the new Udyam portal. This severely restricts the numbers of businesses that can apply for restructuring. According to the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM), India has an estimated 1.02 crore MSMEs. However, only 30 lakh are registered with the Udyam portal. In its bi-monthly monetary policy announcement, the RBI also decided to extend a special liquidity facility of ₹16,000 crore to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (<keyword id="6391656" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sidbi">SIDBI</keyword>) for refinancing through novel. "The impact will be visible in ensuring sustained credit flow in the real economy," said Shachindra Nath, executive chairmand managing director of small business lending fintech platform U GRO Capital. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/stocks-of-indian-hotel-companies-surge-after-rbi-announces-liquidity-boost/slidelist/83229613.cms">Stocks of Indian hotel companies surge after RBI announces liquidity boost</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/gdp-growth-projection-revised-by-rbi-to-9-5-leaves-rates-unchanged/articleshow/83226348.cms">RBI leaves rates unchanged as it lowers GDP growth projection to 9.5%, targets 5.1% inflation</a>

MSMEs with bank loans due up to Rs.50 crore can get their loans restructured

The India Meteorological Department (<keyword id="6366970" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="imd" source="Orion">IMD</keyword>) has predicted heavy rain in the interior areas of <keyword id="20154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="tamil-nadu" source="Orion">Tamil Nadu</keyword> while light to moderate showers are expected in the state capital <keyword id="12864" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="chennai" source="Orion">Chennai</keyword> till August 5. A senior officer with the IMD told IANS: "There will be a light to moderate rain till August 5 in most parts of Tamil Nadu and Southwest monsoon has intensified and that there is an upper circulation in the atmosphere over coastal Tamil Nadu. There was a shear zone where the easterlies and the westerlies meet over the central region and this zone is likely to move towards the north direction in the next few days." The officer said that this would lead to heavy rain in Theni, Dindigul, <keyword id="6361828" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="coimbatore" source="Orion">Coimbatore</keyword>, and <keyword id="6366170" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tirupur" source="Orion">Tirupur</keyword> districts and very heavy rain in Coimbatore and The Nilgiris. In the next couple of days, light to moderate rains is likely over some places in Chennai and adjacent areas. It is to be noted that since June 1, Tamil Nadu and <keyword id="6354306" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="puducherry" source="Orion">Puducherry</keyword> have received an excess of 94 per cent rain. Meanwhile, Chennai witnessed heavy rains on Wednesday morning bringing traffic blocks on all the main roads. With the IMD predicting heavy to very heavy rains, the water resources department has taken initiative to look after the water flow into the major dams of the state. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/u-gro-aims-to-disburse-small-biz-loans-worth-2000-crore-this-fiscal-year/articleshow/93323188.cms">U GRO aims to disburse small biz loans worth ₹2,000 crore this fiscal year</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/solana-hack-8000-crypto-wallets-compromised-millions-wiped-out/articleshow/93322375.cms">Solana Hack: 8000 crypto wallets compromised, millions wiped out</a>

Heavy rain likely in Theni, Dindigul, Coimbatore, and Tirupur districts of Tamil Nadu till Aug 5: IMD

<ul><li>Most <keyword id="6354776" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="telecom" source="Orion">telecom</keyword> and consulting companies have witnessed the highest rate of <keyword id="9783156" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="return-to-office" source="Orion">return to office</keyword> with 75-100% of their workforces working from office or in a hybrid mode.</li><li>IT and new technology companies have the lowest rate of return to office, with less than 25% of their workforce coming back to office.</li><li>Only about 35% of companies across industries have started work from the office for 75%-100% of their teams.</li></ul>Most telecom and consulting companies have witnessed the highest rate of return to office, with 75%-100% of their workforces working from office or in a hybrid mode. A recent report by <keyword id="813133" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="colliers" source="Orion">Colliers</keyword> and <keyword id="3502552" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="awfis" source="Orion">Awfis</keyword>, released on August 4, noted that 60%-70% of the telecom and consulting firms have started this trend. The rate of return to office was the highest among telecom and consulting companies, and the lowest was among IT and new technology companies, with less than a quarter of their workforce moving back to office space. The report also noted that one in two employers prefer a hybrid workspace, where employees can choose to work from home as well as the office. This is mainly because employers are now increasingly prioritising employee convenience and their overall well-being. The Colliers-Awfis joint report — based on the responses from 150 C-Suite executives of various companies having a workforce of up to 10,000 people — explores the status of return to work across different sectors. “The survey has made it clear that a distributed workspace strategy is the way to go for occupiers in this new era of experiential workplaces, as occupiers emerge from the after-effects of the pandemic. Flex spaces, in particular, are leading this growth, as occupiers from varied sectors are housing teams in flex centres across cities,” Ramesh Nair, CEO India and MD of Asian Market Development at Colliers, said. Overall, only about one in three (35%) companies across industries have initiated work from the office for 75%-100% of their teams. Simultaneously, 74% of the companies are looking at distributed workspaces as a strategy to shift from location-centric to people-centric workspaces, which will enable flexibility for employees. Going forward, 77% occupiers will include flex spaces as part of their workplace strategy, founder and CEO of Awfis Amit Ramani said in a statement. About 90% of the occupiers from e-commerce and consulting sectors are likely to include flex space in their current portfolio, Vimal Nadar, senior director and head of research, Colliers India said. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/pvr-manages-to-outperform-inox-in-q1-of-fy2023/articleshow/93326469.cms" style="">PVR manages to outperform INOX in Q1 of FY2023</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/u-gro-aims-to-disburse-small-biz-loans-worth-2000-crore-this-fiscal-year/articleshow/93323188.cms" style="">U GRO aims to co-lend small biz loans worth ₹2,000 crore this fiscal year</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/nifty-sensex-fall-after-a-6-session-streak-amid-china-taiwan-crisis/articleshow/93341328.cms" style="">Markets get wary of heights after a 6-session streak, slip into the red</a>

Telcos, consultancies bring employees back to offices even as techies stay home

<ul><li>The stress among <keyword id="6359766" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="private-schools" source="Orion">private schools</keyword> is emerging mainly due to poor fee collections, which is not just affecting their cash flows but also impeding their ability to pay loan dues. </li><li>Many of them fear that a third wave of COVID-19 infections, and a subsequent lockdown, if any, may even force them to shut down forever. </li><li>The worst-hit have been pre-primary to middle-level schools, especially those catering to low-income families in rural and semi-urban areas. </li></ul><keyword id="4363300" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="private-schools-in-india" source="Orion">Private schools in India</keyword> have been struggling to pay their bills and loan dues to banks and other lenders due to poor student turnout amid the pandemic. Many of them fear that a third wave of COVID-19 infections, and a subsequent lockdown, if any, may even force them to shut down forever. The worst-hit have been those that focus on pre-primary to middle-level education, and cater to low-income families in rural and semi-urban areas. Aside from causing a disastrous loss in the form of lack of access to education for children, this could lead to a lot of unpaid loans for banks and other lenders, and loss of livelihood for teachers and support staff. Take Kerala High School, located in Karimnagar in Telangana, for instance. The budget private school that runs classes from Nursery to Xth standard has a strength of 550 students, with most hailing from the neighbouring villages. For the past 18 months, it has been surviving on near-zero cash flows as most of the fees it collected got exhausted in paying salaries to its staff, repaying loan installments, and running online classes. The fee collection, at close to 20% for the last academic year, has been poor mainly because parents either lost their livelihoods during the pandemic or were unwilling to pay school fees due to absence of offline classes. Further, even the attendance for online classes has remained low at just 20-30%, said Rajendra B, chairman and principal at Kerala High School for the past decade, as most students did not have smartphones and internet connections. But if a third Covid wave happens and lockdown curbs are announced again, the 27-year old school may not even survive. “We had to take loans from family and friends to pay our loan installments during the pandemic as debt kept piling up,” said Rajendra. “If a third wave strikes and there is a lockdown again, I may have to sell half of my 1,000 sq. ft school land to repay the dues,” he said. Further, many students studying in private schools have already switched to government schools over the past three years, as per the<a href="https://www.pratham.org/about/"> Annual Status of Education Report 2020</a> that surveyed 16,761 schools across India. The study, conducted by non-government body<a href="https://www.pratham.org/about/"> Pratham</a> in Sep. 2020, said that the reasons for the switch “may include financial distress in households and/or permanent school shutdowns among the private schools.” Pain Points Private schools that operate in pre-primary, primary and middle education categories (classes Nursery to Class VIIth), according to Vivek Iyer, partner and national leader-financial services risk advisory at Grant Thornton Bharat, have been the worst-affected as they have remained shut the longest for close to 17-18 months. The Covid impact, he said, has also been higher on schools catering to children from low-income families and rural areas “Lower the school fees and the category of the school, worse the Covid impact. That way, private schools catering to the most vulnerable segments have been the worst-hit, while their quality of education has also suffered due to poor transition to digital learning models,” he said. Steve Hardgrave, co-founder and chief executive of Varthana, a Bengaluru-based non-bank lender that focuses on loans to affordable private schools that charge fees of up to Rs 3,000 a month, is dreading the expected third wave of the pandemic. “Of the 4,000 schools that we have funded, close to 5% (or 200 schools) have cited issues with continuing their business, but that number is expected to go up to 25% if the third wave strikes. Also, owners that were running schools on leased land and property are finding it difficult to sustain,” he said. “In some cases, schools had to be sold to a third-party to facilitate clearing off their loan dues.” And Hardgrave is not alone. Even as schools have reopened in most parts of the country, classroom attendance remains thin at about 20-30% as parents are afraid to send their children to schools due to lack of vaccination for children below 18 years of age, said V L Ramakrishnan, managing director and chief executive at Shikha Finance, a Tamil Nadu-based lender that focuses primarily on school financing. “Even though schools have reopened, it is an abstract factor, because parents are still reluctant in sending their children, especially those studying between Nursery and class VIIIth, back to schools,” he said. “About 3-5% of school entrepreneurs, or roughly 20 schools, in our portfolio, have expressed that they will not be able to continue their business. If a third wave strikes, that number would go up,” he said. Mounting Debt It is clear that the stress among private schools is emerging mainly due to poor fee collections, which is not just affecting their cash flows but also impeding their ability to pay loan dues. Chirag Jagdish Chandra Pathak, who has been running Mother Care School that offers education for kindergarten to Class XIIth students in Kheda, Gujarat, had taken a ₹6 crore loan in March 2018 to construct a new school building. As the pandemic struck in March last year, the school’s cash flows fell to near-zero in the following five months. Pathak, however, took quick action and gave teachers at his school smartphones and internet connection to impart online education. But a 25% fee cut by the state government and unwillingness of parents to pay school fees as they did not consider online education at par with classroom learning, led Pathak to avail a loan moratorium during the first wave. Later, he also applied for loan restructuring as his school’s cash flow remained deficient by 30-50%. “Despite schools getting reopened again, our loan repayment ability has reduced by at least 30%. The biggest reason for that is uneven cash flow as fee collection has still not stabilized, while our leverage has gone up due to accumulation of interest,” he said. Like Mother Care, <keyword id="9434367" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="many-private-schools" source="Orion">many private schools</keyword> in the country are dealing with mounting debt as most either opted for a loan moratorium or restructuring, in anticipation that their cash flows would improve eventually. But fee collections still remain inadequate, while interest on their loans have either gone up or their loan repayment period extended. “Schools are over-leveraged by at least 2-3 times as their revenue took a beating of anywhere between 20% to even 80%, depending on the fee category of the school. Restructuring was granted to schools as their cash flows were expected to improve, but if a third wave strikes, it will be difficult for many to manage their debt as fee collection would drop again,” said Anuj Pandey, chief risk officer at non-banking financial company U GRO Capital. So far, U Gro Capital that has ₹136 crore in assets under management across 75 schools as of June 30, has restructured close to 12% of its loan portfolio in school financing. Varthana Finance, which has ₹1,000 crore in AUM towards school loans, has also restructured about 15% of its portfolio. Shiksha Finance restructured close to 10% of its ₹185 crore loan book dedicated to 2,200 schools. “Restructuring has not been much of a solace. Most schools continue demanding for extended repayment terms and moratorium, as their situation has barely improved,” said Ramakrishnan. Agreed, Hardgrave. “Of the 70% schools that had applied, only 15% could be offered restructuring. Even among the most vulnerable schools, we could only restructure loans for those that showed clear signs of business continuity,’ he said. The lack of restructuring options for schools, Hardgrave said, was mainly because there was no provision made by the government or the Reserve Bank of India for non-banking financial companies (NBFC) catering to schools. “There were no special liquidity provisions announced for NBFCs catering to schools and no benefits offered for higher restructuring of school loans, which also affected our ability to do so,” he said. To be sure, the RBI had announced a one-time restructuring scheme last year to aid borrowers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme was to be invoked by December 31, 2020 and implemented within 180 days for corporate borrowers. This year, the scheme was further extended for retail and small business borrowers to September 30. “The government did not just reduce school fees but actively encouraged parents to not pay up, even when we were doing our best to provide online education. On top of that, there was no loan waiver and our debt kept piling up,” said Pathak. A Systemic Issue Not just schools, but specialized non-bank lenders catering to the school segment have also seen their asset quality deteriorate during the pandemic. While Shiksha Finance saw its gross non-performing assets rise from 8.3% of its gross advances, as of June 30, to nearly 17% by August-end, Varthana’s gross NPA rose from a little over 6% by June-end to its highest-ever at almost 8%, as of Aug. 31. But U GRO, which lends to small and medium sized schools, managed to keep its gross NPAs at less than 1%. This, Pandey said, may be because most schools that it lent to were located in urban centres and catered to the middle-class population strata. And a third wave is likely to make matters worse. “While restructuring has helped with immediate cash flow issues, many schools may get pushed to the brink of shutting down if a third wave leads to a fresh set of lockdowns in the country. Even those with better cash flow management may face issues with running their enterprises,” said Pandey. Iyer, however, sees the outcome a bit differently. More than permanent shutdowns, the pandemic would lead to further consolidation among private schools, he said. “Many large school chains backed by deep-pocketed investors are seeing distressed schools in rural and semi-urban areas as good acquisition opportunities for their own expansion.” Be it closure or distressed sale, it is clear that the fate of already stressed private schools hangs in balance. A third wave may also mean the end of the road for many. But Rajendra remains hopeful. In September, Kerala High School reopened following the state government’s directions. The attendance, however, has been low at about 30%, as school buses— the only mode of transportation for over half of its students, are yet to ply. “Once our buses get repaired, we may even touch 70% attendance in the coming weeks. And, if a third wave does not happen, we expect to return to normal fee collections over the next six months,” he said.

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This startup is building infrastructure to automate and ease the process of giving out small biz loans

Kritti Bhalla

MSMEs with bank loans due up to Rs.50 crore can get their loans restructured

Prabhjote Gill

Heavy rain likely in Theni, Dindigul, Coimbatore, and Tirupur districts of Tamil Nadu till Aug 5: IMD

IANS

Telcos, consultancies bring employees back to offices even as techies stay home

Kritti Bhalla

EXCLUSIVE: Many private schools in India are on the brink of bankruptcy and fear that a third wave of COVID-19 could be their end

Ridhima Saxena

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