Surge in Demand for Stress Fund Support

The SBICAP Ventures managed last-mile fund for stressed real estate projects has received over 100 new applications from realty developers in the last one month. A significant part of these applications seeking financial support have been made during the last 15 days after the fund has lowered its return expectations to 12% from earlier 15%-17%. The newly generated demand for liquidity can be attributed to existing lenders including NBFCs and Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) offering new loans at around 18% in the current Covid19-led crisis. Apart from tier-I cities that were already looking for funds to complete stalled projects, the new applications are flowing in from tier II cities like Jaipur. While the fund has started analysing these proposals, the final due diligence leading to any commitment will be firmed up once the lockdown ends completely.