Banking licence rejection not the end of the road: Sachin Bansal

Responding to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) rejection of Chaitanya India Fin Credit’s application for a banking license, its CEO Sachin Bansal said it was not the end road for the company’s plans and had several other options.

“We have not received any written response yet. We will chart the next course of action after we see it. This is not the end of the road for us and lots of options are in front of us,” said Mr. Bansal.

He was responding to queries during a virtual media conference held on Tuesday to announce Navi Finserv’s (NFS) ₹600 crore non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issue, which would comprise a base issue of ₹300 crore and an option to retain an over-subscription of another ₹300 crore.

“We respect the RBI’s decision and will be analysing it in further detail while examining our options. We will decide our next steps in due course while keeping in mind the interest of all stakeholders. Meanwhile, Chaitanya India and the Navi group remain committed and steadfast in their mission to provide customers with simple, affordable and accessible financial products and services,” a Navi spokesperson said.

Ankit Agarwal, MD of NFS said, “The upcoming NCD issue aims to raise funds for onward lending and financing purposes, This will further diversify our borrowing profile and add more retail investors to our portfolio to complement our wide base of Institutional partners.”

Investors would get an opportunity to participate in secured NCDs under various series for a tenure of 18 months and 27 months with an effective yield of up to 9.80% and a minimum application size of ₹10,000, he added.

The company’s mission was to provide financial products that are simple, affordable and accessible, said Mr. Bansal, the chairman & CEO of NFS. “I believe that our customer-centric and technology-first approach along with our robust underwriting and collections capabilities adds value to Navi Finserv’s maiden public debt issue,” he added.