LIC Housing Finance has referred 14 projects to the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) set up by the government last year to revive unfinished real estate projects.

“We have assessed 14 projects. We have advised those developers to be in touch with SBICAP Ventures so that they can get some funding. That process has started,” said Siddhartha Mohanty, Managing Director and CEO, LIC Housing Finance. According to Mohanty, the projects are estimated at about ₹1,000 crore to ₹1,100 crore. LIC Housing Finance was the sole financier for the projects as it does not do joint lending.

To provide last-mile funding to developers, the government had, in November last year, announced the Alternative Investment Fund of ₹25,000 crore. It is being anchored by SBICAP Ventures.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mohanty was also optimistic about the housing finance sector and said that the sector is showing signs of improvement. “We are experiencing some positivity and growth in the sector, slowdown is going away. Things will improve,” he said.

He also said that the stress on the books of LIC Housing Finance is under control and has come down in the third quarter when compared to the second quarter. Meanwhile, hoping to focus on millenial borrowers, LIC Housing Finance also launched a mobile app that will allow potential borrowers to apply for home loans and track their application status.

“The mobile application provides instant eligibility for pre-approval of home loan based on the KYC and other data provided by the applicants,” it said in a statement, adding that the new mobile app can also be used by LIC Housing Finance Limited agents in the field to engage with customers and provide services in real time. It has adopted Google Cloud to power the app.

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