Assam Entrade Ltd is a compact, relationship-driven non-bank lender that operates more like a private investment office than a traditional finance company - its entire loan book is essentially a single, deep relationship with a promoter-group entity. Incorporated in 1985 and listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange since 2020, the company was built around the simple idea of deploying capital into a handful of high-conviction bets, from corporate loans to equity stakes, rather than chasing volume or a broad customer base. That same concentrated approach repeats across everything it does: a loan book dominated by one borrower, an investment portfolio built on unlisted promoter-group companies, and a pre-operative township project held through a consortium of familiar partners.
Business segments
Three engines, all powered by the same concentrated capital - a lending book anchored to a single relationship, a proprietary trading and investment portfolio, and a land-bank bet still in the pre-construction stage.
1. Inter-corporate lending: a single-borrower credit book
The company’s lending is not a diversified loan portfolio but a large, unsecured credit line to one promoter-group company, Mantora Oil Products, which accounts for nearly the entire loan book.
- One relationship is the book - as of March 2024, loans to Mantora Oil Products Private Limited stood at Rs. 40.48 crore, representing 98.73% of total loans outstanding, making the lending business a concentrated exposure to a single related party.
- Unsecured and on demand - the loans are extended without collateral and are repayable on demand, so the company earns a steady interest stream while retaining the right to call back the funds, though repayment depends entirely on the borrower’s liquidity.
- Small, sticky non-performing loans sit outside the core - the company carries gross non-performing assets of Rs. 54.58 lakhs, all from parties other than related parties, with net NPAs at nil, meaning the core relationship book has not thrown up bad debts.
- Provisioning follows the old rulebook - the company continues to use the incurred loss method for loan impairments rather than the expected credit loss approach required under Ind AS 109, a deviation flagged by auditors that means potential future losses are not being provided for in advance.
2. Investment and trading in securities: a proprietary book of unlisted bets and market plays
The company runs its own investment portfolio, buying and selling shares, mutual fund units, and derivatives, while holding long-term unquoted equity stakes in related and unrelated entities.
- Trading for income, holding for influence - the company generates revenue from the sale of shares and securities, dividend income, and fair value changes, while simultaneously maintaining long-term unquoted equity investments that stood at Rs. 1,204.89 as of March 2024.
- Promoter-group companies dominate the long book - the largest unquoted equity holding is Mantora Oil Products Private Limited at Rs. 11.31 crore, alongside a smaller stake in Spark Finwiz Pvt Ltd at Rs. 60.52 lakhs, both related parties, so the investment book mirrors the lending book’s concentration.
- Unlisted holdings are valued at cost, not market - the company values its equity instruments in unlisted companies at amortised cost rather than fair value, on the grounds that recent information to measure fair value is not available, which means the balance sheet may not reflect current worth.
- Derivatives and mutual funds add a trading layer - the company also deals in futures, options, and currency derivatives, and holds mutual fund units, giving it short-term trading gains alongside the long-term equity book.
3. Real estate township project: a land-bank option in waiting
The company holds a development licence and has pooled land through a consortium for an integrated township, but the project remains pre-operative with only preparatory spending on the books.
- A consortium play with own land at the centre - the company secured a township development licence from local authorities and entered into a consortium agreement with other land-owning entities, contributing its own land parcel to the pooled site.
- Capital is parked, not yet deployed at scale - as of March 2023, advances toward the project totalled Rs. 1.33 crore, covering site development charges, project costs, and overheads, while capital work in progress a year earlier stood at Rs. 1.29 crore, all less than a year old.
- A legal cloud over part of the land - the company is pursuing a case in the District Court in Kanpur against the Public Works Department for illegal construction on a portion of its land, with the disputed parcel carrying an approximate cost of Rs. 17 lakhs.
Group structure and partners
A tightly held promoter group with two shell-like subsidiaries and a web of related-party transactions that blur the line between the company’s own book and the family’s broader interests.
- Promoters call the shots - the promoter group held 53.18% of equity as of March 2023, with brothers Nishant Gupta (Managing Director) and Jayesh Gupta (Executive Director and CFO) running day-to-day operations, and Rati Gupta serving as Executive Woman Director.
- Two subsidiaries with minimal substance - Sumeru Commosales Private Limited (55.56% owned) and Pacific Barter Private Limited (an indirect subsidiary) are both unlisted, neither qualifies as a material subsidiary, and both maintain their accounts manually rather than through accounting software.
- Related-party money flows in both directions - Mantora Oil Products is simultaneously the company’s largest borrower and its largest investee, while director Rati Gupta extended an unsecured loan of up to Rs. 3 crore to the company at 11% interest, so capital circulates within the promoter ecosystem.
- No external group affiliations - the company has no holding company, no associate, and no joint venture entities, but has two subsidiaries, making it a standalone vehicle for the promoter family’s financial activities.