I grew up in Lucknow and completed a commerce degree at Talavren Commerce College in May 1993. My first employment began that July at Ruvanseli Trade Services, a small business that administered dispatch records and customer-account queries for regional suppliers. We were not a lender. We helped clients reconcile the commercial records behind their receivables. I spent the early months asking why a delivery note, an invoice and a customer's account statement could describe the same transaction differently. The answer was usually more useful than how long the invoice had remained unpaid.
I lead a regional lender by making the conditions behind working-capital availability as clear as the amount offered.
I am the chief executive of Soraveth Business Finance in Jaipur. Our customers include factory-maintenance contractors, packaging suppliers and business-service firms whose payroll and purchase bills fall due before their customers pay. At March 2026 we had ₹1,640 crore of outstanding loans, 520 colleagues and 24 branches across three states. We are an unlisted, non-deposit-taking NBFC. We lend to the business; we do not treat an invoice as a substitute for understanding its obligations or describe ourselves as the customer's bank.
My first job was in trade-service administration, matching dispatch records, customer queries and payment advice. I learnt how much disagreement can hide behind the phrase 'payment pending'. A document may be missing, work may be disputed or the customer may simply have a different payment date. I moved into customer operations and servicing design before joining Soraveth in 2006. After eight years as chief operating officer, I became CEO and an executive director in May 2020. This is an operating route into finance, rather than a career spent originating credit.
The examples on this site concern the terms on which a lender grows. I have reduced a proposed facility because invoices did not establish accepted work, paid more for funding whose duration suited our commitments, removed a renewal charge that our process did not earn and kept a service team after closing the branch counter it occupied. Each choice had a cost. I want a reader to see that cost and the responsibility I held, alongside the outcome.
Acceptance before availability
A ₹24 crore facility request arrived with 112 invoices worth ₹36 crore. Eighteen invoices, representing ₹3.6 crore, related to disputed work. We approved a smaller ₹14 crore limit with staged availability after examining the wider payment and concentration risks; the disputed amount alone did not determine the limit.
A price for a longer commitment
We replaced a proposed ₹180 crore, six-month borrowing arrangement with ₹110 crore of eighteen-month funding at a higher price and deferred ₹70 crore of planned lending. The revised arrangement reduced one mismatch; it did not remove refinancing risk from the company.
Renewal has to mean a review
We stopped charging ₹8,000 for an automatic facility rollover and retained a charge only for a completed, disclosed renewal review. The following annual plan removed ₹48 lakh of projected fee income. We accepted that loss without presenting it as an immediate increase in customer loyalty.
Current focus
I am strengthening the handover between credit approval and servicing. A branch should be able to explain availability, review dates and unresolved conditions using the same record as our central team. That work includes checking which promises we make before funds can actually be drawn.
Conversations I welcome
I would consider a carefully bounded external board contribution after employer approval and a review of competing business relationships. I can offer twenty days a year in principle, subject to a realistic calendar. My executive directorship at Soraveth is my only current board appointment.
Beyond the page
The record behind the perspective.
Formation
Bachelor of CommerceTalavren Commerce College · 1993
Nazia asked us to distinguish accepted work from invoices awaiting a commercial decision. She supported the smaller facility even after the business team explained the income we could lose.
Devika VelkareCredit head, Soraveth Business Finance; colleague since 2018The full record ↗
Contact
I would consider a carefully bounded external board contribution after employer approval and a review of competing business relationships. I can offer twenty days a year in principle, subject to a realistic calendar. My executive directorship at Soraveth is my only current board appointment.
