14 Dec 2025
Anyone who has actually run a business in India knows something balance sheets never show: reality almost never follows the neat line in your projections. A delayed approval, a policy tweak or a big client backing out can turn a comfortable EMI into a daily stress point. Payments slip, interest piles up, and suddenly the term “NPA loan” appears in every call and email from the bank.
For a promoter, that label feels like a verdict. Vendors start asking for advance, lenders switch to legal language, and even family conversations revolve around “how bad is it?”. Yet this is exactly the stage where the right mix of OTS funding, NPA funding and project funding can turn a slow‑motion crisis into a structured recovery plan.
This is not theory. It is how many real businesses quietly survive their worst years and come back stronger.
What an NPA Loan Really Changes?
On paper, an NPA loan is simply a loan where repayments have not been made for a certain number of days. In practice, the day your account is tagged NPA, your relationship with the bank changes completely. The same manager who once pushed you to take higher limits now has to defend your file in every internal review. The bank must hold more capital, accept possible losses and follow strict rules.
You experience it as calls from recovery teams, frozen limits and zero appetite for fresh support. The underlying business might still have orders and potential, but the original loan structure no longer fits reality. That gap between a workable business and an unworkable structure is exactly where NPA funding and OTS funding solutions operate.
The smarter question stops being “why did this go wrong?” and becomes “how do we rebuild a structure that can actually work now?”.
OTS Funding: Closing the Old Chapter
Most people hear “One-Time Settlement” and picture a desperate negotiation. Professionally handled OTS funding looks very different. At its core, OTS funding is about closing the old chapter on terms both sides can live with. The bank wants to exit a stressed exposure and clean its books. The borrower wants a settlement number and structure that does not crush the business.
When a specialised financier steps in with OTS funding, they pay the agreed settlement amount to the bank and create a new facility for the borrower. The real power is not only in the discount; it is in the reset. Instead of an NPA loan with compounding penalties, you now have a fresh obligation with clear terms, a realistic schedule and a partner who entered fully aware of the stress.
The conversation shifts from “when will you clear the dues?” to “what cash flow can this business realistically generate, and how do we align with that?”. For many promoters, that shift alone can be the difference between shutting down and starting again.
NPA Funding: A Bridge, Not a Last Resort
NPA funding is often seen as “last resort money” at any cost. Used correctly, it works more like a bridge: a way to move from a messy present to a more stable future without destroying everything along the way.
When NPA funding is considered, the focus is less on the past default and more on what the business can deliver going forward. A lender experienced in NPA funding studies assets, contracts, management depth and sector risk. At the same time, there is an understanding that a temporarily stressed borrower is not automatically a failed one.
This type of capital can pay off or settle the old NPA loan, consolidate multiple scattered facilities into one structured obligation, and inject some working capital back into operations. It is usually more expensive than a standard bank loan, but still cheaper than shutting down, fighting legal battles for years or selling assets in distress.
The goal is not to become your permanent source of finance. It is to stabilise the situation so traditional lenders can one day step back in.
Project Funding: The Missing Third Leg
A repeated pattern in distressed stories is this: a fundamentally sound project is funded like a simple term loan and then blamed when things drift. Infrastructure, real estate, manufacturing expansion and other capex‑heavy ventures have their own rhythm. Approvals, land, construction, commissioning and ramp‑up rarely match a rigid EMI schedule.
Project funding exists for exactly this reason. Instead of pretending that revenue will appear from the first month, proper project funding structures accept that cash flows may start much later. Interest during construction, milestone‑based disbursements and tailored repayment schedules are all part of good project funding design.
For a stressed promoter, combining OTS funding on the legacy exposure, NPA funding as a bridge, and dedicated project funding for the underlying asset can be transformational. One piece cleans the past, one manages the transition and one actually finances the future operations that will generate cash.
Without that third leg, many turnarounds remain half‑finished. The NPA loan may be settled or regularised, but the project that was supposed to repay everything never receives enough fuel to stabilise.
Choosing the Right Tool for Your Situation
Seeing all these options together can feel overwhelming. The key is not to chase every product that exists; it is to map your situation clearly and then choose what fits.
If the bank is open to a realistic settlement and you can access fresh capital, OTS funding may be the cleanest way to close the chapter on your NPA loan. If the settlement number is too high but the business still has life, NPA funding can buy time, structure and breathing room. If the real problem is that your project was always underfunded or funded in the wrong way, project funding must be part of the solution, not an afterthought.
Doing nothing is also a decision, but usually the most expensive one.
A More Honest Way to See Recovery
There is still stigma attached to words like OTS funding, NPA funding and project funding, as if using these tools is an admission of failure. The reality on the ground is different. Markets are volatile, regulations change quickly and unexpected shocks keep appearing. A structure that was perfect in year one can become impossible in year three.
The promoters who make it through are not always the ones who never stumble. They are the ones who accept early that their original capital structure no longer works and then act decisively to replace it. They talk openly about their numbers, negotiate with clarity and are willing to use specialised instruments when standard loans stop fitting their reality.
If “NPA” has already entered your story, it is not the final chapter. It is a signal that the story needs to be written differently from here. OTS funding, NPA funding and project funding are not magic words; they are practical tools. Used wisely, they give you a genuine second chance to make the numbers add up again, this time on your terms.
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Credit Curators