Kerala-based gold len­der Manappuram General Finance & Leasing (Magfil) plans to increase its borrowing limit by 33 per cent to Rs 10,000 crore, so it can meet growth in business volume.

Out of the borrowing limit, Rs 1,000 crore has been proposed to be raised by the issue of fully secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

“The shareholders at the annual general meeting held last year authorised the board to borrow money from the banks, financial institutions, etc, to the extent of Rs 7,500 crore. Considering the increased volume, it has become necessary to fix the limit at a higher level,” Magfil said in a notice to shareholders.

The company saw its FY10 net profit nearly quad­rupled, driven by a rise in revenue from its key segment. It posted a net profit of Rs 119.7 crore for the financial year, as compared with Rs 30.3 crore in the same period the previous year. Income from operations rose to Rs 477 crore from Rs 165.02 crore.

Revenue from gold loan segment — which accounts for more than 86 per cent of the company’s business — rose 213 per cent to Rs 465.1 crore from Rs 148.8 crore in FY09, while profit leaped to Rs 192.64 crore from Rs 62.37 crore.

Magfil, which made gold loan disbursements of Rs 8,000 crore in FY10, expects a growth of 88 per cent in FY11.

The company also plans to expand its branch network by adding 500 more branches this year, taking the total number of branches to more than 1,600. The expansion will also see company entering five new states in the country. At present, the lender has presence in 15 states.

It has added about 700 new branches in the past two years and has staff strength of over 8,000 people for a customer base of over 500,000.

Magfil had recently raised Rs 245 crore even as Sequoia Capital exited the company last month with returns valued 8 times.

India is the world’s big­gest consumer of gold, with about 20,000 tonnes of the metal. The total size of the mortgaged gold is estimated at 15,000 tonnes.