Orange completes Rs 50 cr listed NCD issuance

CHENNAI: Orange Retail Finance India Private Limited, an RBI-registered Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) rated ICRA BBB− (Stable), has completed its first listed Non-Convertible Debenture (NCD) issuance of Rs 50 crore, marking its entry into the listed debt market.

The issuance represents the first tranche under the Chennai-based company’s Rs 200 crore listed NCD programme for FY27, supported by UMI Capital, and forms part of Orange’s broader Rs 300 crore debt fundraising plan for the financial year.

The fund raise marks an important step in Orange’s strategy to diversify its funding base and build a more scalable, institutional capital-raising platform as it targets Rs 550 crore in AUM during FY27.

Saravanan Kandan, chief financial officer, Orange, said: “This is the first of several steps to widen our funding base and lower our long-term cost of capital. The funding programme provides us with a structured pathway to access institutional debt capital as we scale, while keeping us disciplined on asset-liability management as we work towards our Rs 550 crore AUM target.”

The strategic transition has been accompanied by a sustained improvement in portfolio quality, with the Company’s gross NPA declining from 9.3% as of March 2024 to approximately
2.1–2.8% currently, while its capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) stands at 34%.
Orange’s disbursements are concentrated in rural and Tier-2 markets across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, where a significant proportion of its customers are first-time users of formal credit.

Gold Loans are expected to account for a substantial share of incremental AUM, alongside MSME LAP. The Company’s focus on underserved markets also has a strong financial inclusion dimension, with women currently accounting for 35% of its borrower base.

Orange intends to double its women borrower base as it scales.
Ebenezer Daniel G, founder, MD-CEO, Orange, said: “Completing our first listed NCD is an important milestone in Orange’s transition to a more diversified, capital markets-linked funding base.

The transaction reflects the confidence debt investors place in the leadership team we have built for scale and in a growth plan anchored in secured, financially inclusive lending.”