Debt Syndication Services & Bank Loan Advisory

Overview

A bank or NBFC term loan sounds simple until the actual ask lands: three years of CMA data, a detailed project report for the bank loan, and a DSCR that has to survive the credit committee’s own model, not just yours. Most founders write a business plan for an MSME loan once, discover the branch wants something else, and start over. Term loans, venture debt, NBFC lending and consortium or multiple-banking arrangements are different instruments answering different problems — construction-phase capex, working-capital growth, or a runway extension a VC round would otherwise dilute away — and picking the wrong one wastes months before a single rupee moves. That’s why founders end up comparing debt syndication consultants rather than walking into a branch cold.

Since 1 October 2025, the RBI (Project Finance) Directions, 2025 govern how banks, NBFCs and All-India Financial Institutions appraise and monitor project finance, replacing fifteen older circulars in one stroke. An exposure only counts as project finance where at least 51% of repayment is expected from the project’s own cash flows and every lender sits under one common loan agreement; in a syndicate financing an under-construction project above ₹1,500 crore, no single lender may hold less than 5% (or ₹150 crore) of the exposure, and below that threshold the floor is 10%. DSCR is now a mandatory field in every lender’s project database, tracked from origination onward — though no single minimum ratio is prescribed; that stays each lender’s own credit-policy call.

Collateral is usually the real constraint, not appetite. CGTMSE now guarantees collateral-free lending up to ₹10 crore per borrower (raised from ₹5 crore, effective 1 April 2025), and DPIIT-recognised startups have a separate route: the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups covers up to ₹20 crore per borrower, available through NBFCs and SEBI-registered AIFs as well as banks — which is how several venture debt funds lend against it. If you have seen ECLGS mentioned elsewhere, it closed to new sanctions back in 2023 and is not a live route today; MUDRA and PMEGP remain scheme-based options for smaller tickets. None of these guarantees changes whether the credit committee says yes — only who bears the loss if you default.

Our lane is preparation and negotiation, never approval — sanction sits with the lender’s own credit committee, and no advisor, including us, can bind that decision. We build the CMA data and DPR package to the format your bank’s appraisal actually uses, size the ask around a DSCR the numbers can defend, and where the exposure is large enough that an unrated loan invites a punitive risk weight, arrange a bank loan rating from a recognised agency. We are a private consultancy — not a bank, NBFC or government body — and we say so plainly wherever that distinction matters.

Who it’s for

• Manufacturers and service SMEs raising a term loan for capex, plant expansion or a new facility
• Startups weighing venture debt against a straight bank or NBFC term loan to extend runway without further dilution
• Businesses turned down once who need the CMA data, DPR and DSCR story rebuilt properly before reapplying
• DPIIT-recognised startups and UDYAM-registered MSMEs wanting to route through CGTMSE or CGSS instead of pledging personal collateral
• Companies whose exposure has grown large enough that a lender is asking for an external bank loan rating before sanctioning further

Eligibility & requirements

• Project finance treatment under the RBI’s 2025 Directions requires at least 51% of repayment to come from the project’s own cash flows and one common loan agreement across all lenders
• A syndicate financing an under-construction project above ₹1,500 crore must keep every lender’s stake at 5% (or ₹150 crore, whichever is higher); below that threshold the floor is 10%
• CGTMSE collateral-free cover tops out at ₹10 crore per borrower (since 1 April 2025); CGSS cover for DPIIT-recognised startups tops out at ₹20 crore, including loans from NBFCs and AIF-structured venture debt funds
• CGSS eligibility requires DPIIT recognition and no existing default or NPA classification with any lending or investing institution
• UDYAM registration is the gate for MSME-linked credit schemes generally, CGTMSE and PMEGP included
• Where a single borrower’s aggregate banking-system exposure exceeds ₹500 crore and the loan is unrated, RBI’s capital rules push the lender toward a punitive 150% risk weight — usually the real reason a bank asks for a rating

How CapEasy handles it

1. We review your existing financials, GST returns, filed ITRs and business plan against what the target lender or scheme actually asks for, before drafting anything
2. We build the CMA data and detailed project report, sized around a DSCR the projections can actually defend, not a number picked to look good
3. We map the right instrument — term loan, NBFC lending, venture debt, or a CGTMSE/CGSS-backed facility — to your stage and collateral position
4. Where the ticket size warrants it, we coordinate a bank loan rating with a recognised agency so the application isn’t read as an unrated exposure
5. We approach the shortlisted banks, NBFCs or AIF-structured venture debt funds — as a single lender, a syndicate, or a multiple-banking arrangement, depending on what the ticket size needs
6. We negotiate term sheets and sanction conditions across lenders, and prepare the documentation set each credit committee asks for
7. Once sanctioned, we track the conditions to disbursement — collateral perfection, CGTMSE/CGSS guarantee filing, DSCR and reporting covenants — so drawdown isn’t held up by a paperwork gap

Documents you’ll typically need

• Last 2-3 years’ audited financials, GST returns and filed ITRs — lenders cross-check projections against these, not just the business plan
• CMA data and a detailed project report covering the facility being sought
• UDYAM registration certificate, and DPIIT recognition certificate if applying through CGSS
• Existing credit facilities, sanction letters and repayment track record, if any
• KYC and constitutional documents — incorporation certificate, MOA/AOA or partnership deed, and a board resolution authorising the borrowing
• Collateral or security documents where applicable, and any existing external credit rating

CapEasy is a private consultancy and is not affiliated with any government authority. We help you assess eligibility and prepare and file your application; eligibility and approval depend on your specifics and the relevant department’s discretion.