Changing money lending business in Bharat: 4 small finance banks with upside up to 36%

It might surprise many of you, ask your driver, your help at home, or the small chai shop owner how much interest he pays when he or she takes an unsecured loan taken in the private loan market. He or she might be paying four to five times more than the interest rate which any regular bank charges on an unsecured loan. That is what led to the birth of microfinance companies, now many of them are small finance banks. They are providing lending at the lowest end of the pyramid. Their interest rates were higher than normal banks would charge, but would surely much lower than what private money lenders in these parts of the country charges. That is where the opportunities are present for these small finance banks. After a phase of tough regulatory challenges, they have emerged stronger.

With the focus of government policies increasingly turning favourable toward the manufacturing sector, some of the capital goods and engineering companies are making a comeback on the analysts list.

Macro environment in which auto ancillaries companies operate have turned favourable after a long period of time. Sometimes it is LCV and HCV which drives the demand, at other point time, better four and two wheeler numbers are pushing the demand up for auto ancillary companies, some of which are changing their business model to stay relevant in times of EV. We take a look at companies where analysts are projecting further upside in the next 12 months. The list is based on upside estimated by the analysts, with the highest potential stock coming on the top of the list.

Letting realism prevail over Panglossian statements will help the central bank get a better handle on tail risks. Continuing rural stagnation should ideally focus attention on the distributional effects of monetary policy.

If one has to go by recent indications from management of different auto companies, the mood in the industry is positive about the forthcoming festive season. For the auto industry, headwinds like rising input cost, stagnant demand are becoming things of the past for the majority of them. Now if the festive season goes well, then auto stocks might see another push. Though if the metal prices start to rise some companies might face minor issues with their margins. So while being bullish, being watchful.

Given below is a list of six banks which are offering more than 6% interest on fixed deposits (FDs) of an amount less than Rs 2 crore. The highest FD interest rate is being offered by Unity Small Finance Bank.

While a large part of India’s rural economy is about agriculture, in the last couple of years, there has been an effort on the policy level that other parts of the rural economy which are not agricultural related get the boost. So be it horticulture, animal husbandry and fishing all of them have been a push in one form or other to increase both productivity and income levels. From an investment perspective, there are few players which are listed as a large part of this is still with smaller players who operate on a regional basis. But as the overall market size grows the large players are increasing their presence. This is not to say that there are only opportunities and no challenges. The biggest being the fact that any change in the rural economy matrix is always time consuming, so companies need to have the ability to go through long cycles.

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Bankers argue that a broader policy is required to promote environmental, social and governance (ESG) lending, and the proposed relaxation will free up more capital for such financing.