Mumbai: Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are seeking long-term growth capital as they gear up to expand business amid a rebounding economy.Edelweiss, Shriram Transport, Indiabulls Housing and IIFL group have shored up cash levels and plan to use the capital to buy back bonds and conserve cash in the short run.“We are gearing up for growth next year,” said Umesh Revankar, managing director of Shriram Transport Finance.“Different regulatory windows to infuse liquidity, along with significant improvements in collections month on month, have provided NBFCs with adequate cash. Any extension of the time maturity period of existing liquidity schemes should help get growth capital,” he added. “We are well prepared to face any second wave of uncertainties,” he said.Shriram is using part of its cash to buy back bonds.Shriram Transport took board permission recently to buy back Rs 1,000 crore worth local bonds. It has also doubled cash to more than Rs 10,000 crore in October compared to levels seen at the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak-induced lockdown.“Our liquidity requirements are more fully met,” said Rashesh Shah, chairman – Edelweiss group. “We are now looking to raise long-term debt from stable sources as we are seeing growth coming back. We have enough cash levels to take care of all obligations.”“Now, we need to focus on growth and profitability,” he said.Edelweiss currently holds about Rs 7,000 crore in cash versus less than Rs 5,000 crore during the lockdown. In the last three months, the non-bank lender bought back Rs 500 crore bonds with residual maturities of up to two years.“We are in the process of raising long term capital as we aim to tap the capital market and traditional banks,” said Gagan Banga, managing director of Indiabulls Housing Finance. “Banks are slowly opening up to frontline NBFCs. Further regulatory comfort can make it broad-based across the industry.”“We see opportunities for expanding home loans appearing,” he said.Indiabulls Housing Finance has been negotiating with investors for a possible bond buyback.Last week, it repurchased Rs 100 crore worth bonds. It is likely to repeat the action over the next few weeks. The home financier will target to raise about Rs 2,600 crore of three- to five-year paper this quarter (October-December) alone via loans and bonds. 79237720Edelweiss and Indiabulls have raised both debt and equity to strengthen the balance sheet this financial year.Since April, the government and the Reserve Bank of India have announced a slew of liquidity windows, providing a lifeline to cash-starved last-mile lenders whose businesses came to a grinding halt due to the world’s strictest virus-induced lockdown earlier in April.Under the Emergency Credit Liquidity Guarantee Scheme, a total of Rs 2.05 lakh crore has been sanctioned to 6.1 million borrowers.