BlackSoil’s NBFC arm forays into solar financing through Creditfair acquisition

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BlackSoil Group’s non-banking financial company’s arm has acquired the solar financing business of Credit Fair, marking its strategic expansion into India's rapidly growing renewable energy sector, a top executive at the company told Mint.

"At BlackSoil, we are trying to deepen our book. While we are very active B2B lenders, we also want to have more retail customer plays. This acquisition is a great opportunity for us to add that lens to our overall business. We are targeting an average loan size of between ₹3-5 lakh," said Ankur Bansal, managing director of BlackSoil Group.

"As we integrate and scale, we will aim to possibly add larger clients looking for bigger ticket loans," he added.

The acquisition expands BlackSoil's presence in the B2B2C financing ecosystem while strengthening its focus on sectors supporting India's transition to a sustainable economy.

Through the deal, the company aims to deepen its capabilities in solar financing and clean energy by leveraging its structured credit expertise to meet the growing financing needs of businesses and consumers.

Climate-focused investments already account for 17% of BlackSoil's portfolio, making it one of the firm's five largest investment sectors.

"India is one of the fastest adopters of solar rooftops and many players in this segment are actively growing the market. With this acquisition, we aim to help them scale further as these companies can leverage our balance sheet," Bansal said.

On 7 July, ICRA said Credit Fair's solar financing business was acquired through a cash slump sale for a net consideration of about ₹45 crore.

With assets under management (AUM) of about ₹160 crore, the acquisition is expected to improve the granularity of BlackSoil Capital's loan portfolio.

Despite the cash outflow, BlackSoil’s liquidity profile remains comfortable, supported by unencumbered cash of about ₹187 crore as of 11 June 2026, the credit rating agency said.

Bansal said challenges across the broader NBFC sector have opened up opportunities for consolidation.

"In such situations, we are open to acquiring strong assets that can eventually scale in a larger format," he said.

"It's always good to have a diversified strategy across multiple products and sectors as we are a relatively new-age NBFC. As India progresses, the customer segments and needs have also evolved, and we want to cater to their requirements."

He added that BlackSoil follows a bottom-up approach while evaluating inorganic growth opportunities.

"While many segments are growing well in India, it is important to evaluate the teams that can actually build a profitable and sustainable business, which is scaleable and can ultimately make a good ROE," Bansal said.

BlackSoil Group, which also manages a Sebi-registered alternative investment fund (AIF), provides customized credit solutions to new-age businesses, MSMEs and growth-stage enterprises.

The group has disbursed more than ₹12,212 crore across 444 portfolio companies spanning sectors including financial services, food and agriculture, climate, consumer and technology.

As of March 2026, BlackSoil managed assets worth about ₹2,500 crore. During FY26, it deployed ₹3,900 crore across 152 new disbursements and expects the momentum to continue through the current financial year.

Priyamvada is a Mumbai-based business journalist at Mint. She writes about the public and private markets with a key focus on venture capital, private equity, M&As and private credit. Her coverage also spans startups and emerging businesses.<br><br>Over the last two years, she has uncovered some of the largest deals and interviewed important decision-makers from India’s investment ecosystem. She likes to dabble across different formats like long forms and explainers. Her work has been consistently displayed on the publication's deals page, and she has also written multiple front-page stories....