'Moving Faster Than Schedule': IRFC CMD On Rs 30,000-Crore Loan Disbursement Target In FY26
After its Q4FY25 results, the railway sector financier had announced diversification into allied high-margin segments, like Metro rail to accelerate growth.
State-owned Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) is moving beyond its traditional role of financing Indian Railways, adopting a broader “whole-of-government” strategy. This strategic shift is expected to enable the public sector undertaking disburse around Rs 30,000 crore and sanction assets worth Rs 60,000 crore in FY26, according to its Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Kumar Dubey.
“I stand by my guidance that I gave at the beginning of the financial year that we will be disbursing around Rs 30,000 crore this year and my sanction of assets will be around Rs 60,000 crore. Perhaps we are moving a little faster than the target we had given,” he said in a conversation with NDTV Profit on Wednesday.
The company’s order book currently stands around Rs 25,000 crore. The orders are primarily from “clients in the railway ecosystem other than Indian Railways," according to the CMD.
Since March, the company has expanded its lending to government entities with direct or indirect linkages to Indian Railways. After its Q4FY25 results, the railway sector financier had announced diversification into allied high-margin segments like Metro rail to accelerate growth.
“We are funding everybody in the government who has any kind of backward or forward linkage with the Indian Railways. To our comfort, there is hardly any department or industry which does not have direct backward or forward linkages with the Indian Railways,” Dubey said.
The CMD also noted the Railway PSU is likely to maintain the lowest operating expenditure among its peers, along with improved margins. “Despite the highly competitive environment, we are garnering margins two to three times higher than what we previously earned from the Railways,” he said.
He clarified that IRFC is not lending directly to private players, but is open to funding joint ventures or long-term concession agreements involving government entities.
The CMD acknowledged that the market had become more competitive due to the recent rate cuts, with lending rates for 10-year tenures dropping by 20-30 bps. However, he said that low overhead costs provided a significant advantage.
IRFC reported a 10.71% year-on-year (YoY) increase in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 1,745.69 crore in Q1FY26 against Rs 1,576.83 crore in Q1FY25. Its total income increased 2.2% YoY to Rs 6,918.24 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 6,766.03 crore in the year-ago quarter. Total expenses declined 0.3% to Rs 5,172.55 crore in Q1FY26 from Rs 5,189.2 crore in Q1FY25.
