Religare to offer offer customized franchisee loans

Religare Finvest Limited (RFL), the SME-focused lending arm of diversified financial services group, Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), has entered into an exclusive partnership with Franchise India, Asia's largest integrated franchise solution company. In a first of its kind initiative in the country, Religare will offer tailor-made loans to small businesses and franchises to bridge gaps in their working capital requirement.

Frachisee Power will be marketed through Franchise India’s country wide network spread across over 230 cities in India, traditional FranMatch programs and other outreach programs that will tap potential and existing franchisees. Currently, India has 3,750 franchise brands and the franchising industry is projected to generate 11 million employment opportunities by 2017. The country is also the second most attractive destination globally for franchisors among 30 emerging markets.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Kavi Arora, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Religare Finvest Ltd said, "We are pleased to partner with Franchise India to address the growth capital requirement of franchisees. They are the backbone of the retail ecosystem and form a significant chunk of the entire service sector network in the country. The franchisees today have ongoing capital needs for expanding or setting up their businesses and we are more than happy to step in as their preferred partners to fuel their entrepreneurial growth journey".

Mr. Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India Holdings Ltd. said, "The country’s franchise industry is very promising and is expected to reach a size of $35 billion by 2020 from $24 billion now. It is thus paramount to solve their working capital needs of both existing and prospective franchise owners. We have truly been the flag bearers in this space and are happy to have partnered with a premier market leading lender like Religare Finvest to help bridge this gap. We will be marketing this offering through our existing network and several other initiatives in the months to come".