Date:06/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/06/stories/2004120601040300.htm

Back SREI's infrastructure auction generates biz worth Rs 100 cr

Our Bureau

Kolkata , Dec. 5

IT was a different kind of auction altogether. An auction where "You Decide, SREI Provides." An auction where participants bid for the lowest interest rates on finance of infrastructure equipment.

And, at the end of the evening at Paison ki Nilami that was held here a few days ago, the company concluded business of around Rs 100 crore.

In what was stated to be a first-of-its-kind auction, participants had to bid on falling rates of interest at which they wished to have their assets financed.

And they had a multitude of infrastructure equipment to bid for. These included excavators, tippers, dumpers, loaders, transit mixers and compactors from manufacturers such as Volvo, JCB, Ingersoll Rand and Tata Motors.

With celebrity Ms Mandira Bedi conducting the event, over 300 bidders participated in the auction where the interest rates on finance of the infrastructure equipment on offer was gradually reduced from a peak level of 9.99 per cent to a minimum of 3.69 per cent.

The event also provided original equipment manufacturers a chance to showcase their offerings before a large captive audience.

Says Mr Hemant Kanoria, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director of SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd, "As a company, we are always looking at financing infrastructure equipment at competitive rates of interest. With Paison ki Nilami, we have introduced innovation in infrastructure equipment financing. We would now like to take it to other cities as well."