L&T Finance Limited (LTF), a Non-Banking Financial Companies, has launched Warehouse Receipt Financing (WRF), a digitally-assisted journey for loan facilities against agri-commodities.
WRF facilitates the use of commodities as collateral to secure loans. Commodities are stored in professionally managed warehouses by empaneled collateral managers. Under this arrangement, commodities are checked for quality and quantity, based on which a receipt is issued by the collateral manager to farmers, traders and processors. The receipt can then be used as a collateral to avail loan facilities from LTF, the non-bank lender said in a statement.
As per the NBFC, WRF will be available for customers in four states, namely Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and will revolutionise the way this product is offered. Currently, these facilities are offered by the market in a traditional manner which is primarily manual in nature and takes anywhere between 7-10 days for each loan application to get sanctioned. With the launch of this product, customers will get a never before experience of obtaining a sanction within 24 hours of filing the loan application and having all the information related to their loans at their fingertips through the mobile application PLANET, it said in a release.
Farmers, traders and processors can avail this facility at the nearest LTF branch at attractive interest rates for an amount ranging between Rs.1 lakh to Rs.10 crore. The amount sanctioned will be based on eligibility checks and the loan margin range, which shall be between 25 percent and 30 percent of the market value of the commodity, based on quality parameters.
Dinanath Dubhashi, Managing Director & CEO of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. said, “Our Lakshya is to become a top-class, customer-focused, digitally-enabled retail finance company by 2026, or even before that. In line with the same, we are consistently working upon engaging our customers with products that are suited to their requirements and at the same time, are available when they need them. WRF is one such offering from our end which promises quick disbursement and flexible repayment with no foreclosure charges.”
Dubhashi added, “The Rabi sowing season in India has ended with a record acreage of 720 lakh hectares in this crop year, which is the highest in the past five years. In such a scenario, we are hopeful that these loans will help our customers meet their working capital requirements in a convenient manner. Additionally, it will also help stabilise the supply of commodities and prices in the market, improve growers’ income, and reduce food losses.”
