Mumbai-based fintech platform U GRO Capital has partnered with non-banking finance company Sunvest Capital on a rooftop solar co-lending programme for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Leveraging the expertise and market intelligence of Sunvest and the tech-driven knowledge of U GRO in SME lending, the co-lending programme with a corpus of Rs 200 million will power the clean energy initiatives of MSMEs with an aim to help them save electricity cost.
“The co-lending programme will combine our knowledge-driven approach (sectoral focus) backed by technology with in-depth solar panel market insights of Sunvest Capital. We look forward to a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with Sunvest Capital to fill this market gap and join the nation-building through carbon mitigation and clean energy promotion,” said U GRO Capital executive chairman Shachindra Nath.
A Bombay Stock Exchange listed fintech platform, UGRO leverages on its tech-enabled platform to solve the ever-growing credit gap in the SME sector. The company has developed proprietary tools which comprise customized SME sector specific statistical scorecards, underwriting insights based on deep sub-sector level research put together in a highly integrated technology platform. This helps in getting the in-principle decision for a loan application within 60 minutes.
The company has already disbursed more than US$100 million across 6000+ small businesses in a short span of 10 months.
The collaboration assumes significance as the government has set a renewable energy target of 175 GW by 2022 and solar rooftop energy is expected to contribute 40 GW to the overall target. However, India has so far installed only 10% of its rooftop solar target, leaving a huge potential for growth that is impeded by financial concerns among the MSMEs.
“Sunvest has a deep understanding of the rooftop solar market in India and U GRO has unparalleled expertise in SME lending. With over 400 industrial clusters, MSMEs are the growth engine for India’s industrial development and adopting solar energy has numerous economic, social and environmental benefits. Power costs are a big portion of MSME’s overall expenditure and access to the right financial products will now help these businesses to go solar,” said Sunvest Capital Founder and CEO Sishir Garemella.
“We believe the timing of our partnership is ideal to capitalize on the long-term lending opportunity in solar and sustainability domains. We are confident that our partnership, a first of its kind, will catalyse the rooftop solar ecosystem. India is serious about tackling climate change and the world is looking at us to take meaningful steps towards carbon mitigation. Innovative financing will have a positive impact on reducing emissions while increasing productivity for small businesses,” he added.
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