IIFL Home Finance raises $50 million loan from US International Development Finance Corp

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

IIFL Home Finance has raised a $50 million loan from US International Development Finance Corp (DFC) to grow its affordable housing finance portfolio with a special focus on sustainable housing. The fund was raised at a concessional 5.72% rate, which includes the hedging cost, IIFL Home Finance chief executive Monu Ratra told ET. Its average cost of funds is 8.4%.

The deal marks the growing confidence shown by overseas investors on India's affordable housing space, which is growing rapidly with government focus. The mortgage lender is raising debt for the second time this year. In January, it had raised $68 million from Asian Development Bank.

«Overseas investors, especially the development financial institutions, see affordable housing as an area they can have the biggest impact in developing countries. So, for them investing here is completely in sync with their social development goals of building sustainable cities and communities as well as taking climate action,» Ratra said. Last week, another mortgage lender with focus on the affordable segment, Shriram Housing Finance, raised $50 million in its first external commercial borrowing from Canara Bank's London branch.

Last year, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) bought a 20% stake in IIFL Home Finance for about Rs 2,200 crore. The mortgage lender, which is a subsidiary of IIFL Finance, caters mostly to the economically weaker sections and lower income groups. At the end of June, it had assets under management of Rs 29,595 crore.

Home loans contribute more than three-fourths of this. Loans against property to small enterprises and construction finance are its other lending verticals. Parent IIFL Finance had raised $175 million last