AHFL Access to Affordable Housing for Underserved Segments (ADB-56133-001)

Countries
  • India
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 1, 2023
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Aadhar Housing Finance Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 60.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 60.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Media Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ ADB website

Updated in EWS Aug 14, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Dec 1, 2023

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the news release in the Bank’s website, the ADB has signed a $60 million (in Indian rupee equivalent) nonconvertible debentures financing agreement to help Aadhar Housing Finance Limited (AHFL) provide housing loans to women and address the shortage of financing in the low-income and affordable housing segment in India.

The financing will be used by AHFL to exclusively lend to women borrowers or coborrowers. At least half will be deployed in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

ADB has categorized the investment in compliance with ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009) as follows: environment (category FI treated as C), involuntary resettlement (category FI treated as C), and indigenous peoples (category FI treated as C).

The proposed use of ADB proceeds has minimal or no adverse environmental impacts and is unlikely to entail impacts on involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples. AHFL will (i) apply ADB’s prohibited investment activities list; (ii) exclude activities with category A and B environmental and social (E&S) safeguard impacts; (iii) ensure that activities financed using ADB funds comply with ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement and abide by applicable national laws and regulations, including labor laws, pursuant to ADB’s Social Protection Strategy; and (iv) take measures to comply with internationally recognized core labor standards.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The ADB assistance consists of a senior secured debt facility of up to $60 million in Indian rupee equivalent with a tenor of up to 8 years. The ADB financing will be in the form of secured nonconvertible debentures (NCDs).

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

AHFL is a housing finance company in India focused on the low-income housing segment,  with ticket size less than 1.5 million Indian rupees (around $17,976). The company targets lower-income borrowers. AHFL offers loan with average ticket size of 900,000 Indian rupees (around $10,875) through its network of 471 branches across 20 states and union territories in India as of September 2023.  


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.adb.org/forms/request-information-form

ADB has a two-stage appeals process for requesters who believe that ADB has denied their request for information in violation of its Access to Information Policy. You can learn more about filing an appeal at: https://www.adb.org/site/disclosure/appeals

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF ADB

The Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an Asian Development Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Accountability Mechanism, they may investigate to assess whether the Asian Development Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can learn more about the Accountability Mechanism and how to file a complaint at: http://www.adb.org/site/accountability-mechanism/main.

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How it works