Citibank to Offer Lease Rental Discounting

Citibank India is planning to introduce Lease Rental Discounting (LRD) for top commercial real estate companies in India as it aims to strengthen the focus on institutions while exiting the retail business. LRD is a globally popular credit instrument offered against rental receipts. This will likely ease the funds crunch in the real estate sector, hit hard by the pandemic. The bank will be setting up a separate team and infrastructure for this service line. "The average tenure of LRD may be in the range of 5-7 years. LRD remains a key focus area for Citigroup globally. However, it is not in the product kitty for India. With the India business going through rejig, this could well give a boost to Citi's growing institutional approach.