Shriram Transportation Finance Corporation (STFC) said on Thursday that it had secured $250 million in long-term funding from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). According to the press release, External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) is a 10-year fixed-rate loan under STFC’s social financing framework.

Funds raised from DFC, the US government development finance agency, will enable STFC to provide credit for purchasing new and used vehicles across India. Umesh Revankar, the vice-chairman and managing director of STFC said the company would help fund more self-employed people to buy cars, fund job creation in rural areas and help more communities optimise their incomes.

The company said the proceeds could be used to finance alternative fuels for commercial vehicles, CNG, LPG and electric vehicles, as well as create jobs through MSME loans, especially for women entrepreneurs. It added that STFC continued to diversify its funding sources in addition to the DFC loan, successfully raising $475 million from international markets through a 144A bond in early 2022.