PreRatings is an AI-powered preparatory credit rating platform designed for Indian companies, banks, NBFCs, and financial institutions. Our proprietary 7-factor engine analyses your financial data — revenue growth, debt/equity ratio, interest coverage, current ratio, profit margins, market position, and management quality — and maps it against sector-specific industry benchmarks calibrated to the published methodologies of CRISIL, ICRA, India Ratings, and CARE. The output is a confidential AAA-to-D rating with a detailed report covering strengths, weaknesses, outlook, and actionable improvement recommendations. The entire process takes under 24 hours and your data is never published, disclosed, or shared with any third party. To get started, submit your financial data through our secure form — it takes under 10 minutes.

No. PreRatings is NOT registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) under the SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999. We are an advisory and technology platform — not a SEBI-registered Credit Rating Agency (CRA). Our ratings are "preparatory" and "indicative" by design. They are intended solely for internal decision-making, preparation before approaching a SEBI-registered CRA, and self-assessment. You cannot use a PreRatings rating for regulatory capital computation, mutual fund portfolio compliance, offer documents, stock exchange filings, RBI returns, or any other regulatory purpose. For any official or regulatory use, you must obtain a rating from a SEBI-registered CRA (CRISIL, ICRA, India Ratings, CARE, Acuite, Infomerics, or Brickwork). Read our full legal disclaimer for details.

Based on our internal validation study across 200+ cases where clients subsequently obtained an official rating from a SEBI-registered CRA, PreRatings' AI engine predicted the final rating within ±1 notch in 85% of cases and within ±2 notches in 94% of cases. The strongest alignment (92% within ±1 notch) was observed in the BBB to AA range, which covers the majority of Indian corporate ratings. Accuracy is highest for manufacturing, auto ancillary, and pharmaceutical sectors. Sectors with greater regulatory or qualitative complexity — such as NBFCs and real estate — show slightly wider variance. Our model is continuously calibrated against publicly disclosed rating actions to improve precision. See our methodology page for details on validation and back-testing.

The minimum data required for a preparatory rating assessment includes: (1) Revenue in INR Crores for the latest financial year; (2) Revenue Growth Rate — 3-year CAGR; (3) Debt/Equity Ratio; (4) Interest Coverage Ratio (EBIT / Interest Expense); (5) Current Ratio (Current Assets / Current Liabilities); (6) Net Profit Margin (%); (7) Total Assets in INR Crores; (8) Market Position assessment (Leader / Strong / Moderate / Weak); and (9) Management Quality assessment (Excellent / Good / Average / Below Average). Optionally, you may also provide audited financial statements, cash flow statements, contingent liability details, and related-party transaction notes for a more refined assessment. The standard form takes approximately 10 minutes for a finance professional to complete. We do NOT require board resolutions, KYC documents, or any physical paperwork. Submit your data now to get started.

No, the model is not a black box. Each of the seven factors is scored on a calibrated scale (0-100), with weights that vary by industry sector based on the relative importance of each metric. For example, debt/equity and interest coverage carry higher weight for capital-intensive sectors like infrastructure and metals, while revenue growth and profit margins are weighted more heavily for IT and FMCG. The seven factors are: (1) Revenue Growth (3-year CAGR, weighted 10-18%); (2) Debt/Equity Ratio (weighted 18-25%); (3) Interest Coverage Ratio (weighted 15-22%); (4) Current Ratio (weighted 8-12%); (5) Net Profit Margin (weighted 12-18%); (6) Market Position (weighted 8-12%); and (7) Management Quality (weighted 8-12%). The composite score maps to the standard AAA-to-D rating scale using thresholds calibrated against publicly available rating data from SEBI-registered CRAs. For a detailed explanation, visit our methodology page.

We cover the full spectrum of credit rating categories across all major asset classes. Entity Ratings — Long Term (AAA to D), Short Term (A1+ to D), Issuer Rating, and Corporate Governance Rating. Instrument Ratings — Non-Convertible Debentures (NCD), Commercial Paper (CP), Bonds & Debentures, Bank Loan Rating (BLR), Fixed Deposit Rating, Subordinated Debt, and Perpetual Debt. Structured Finance — Structured Obligations (SO), Pass-Through Certificates (PTC), and Guarantee Structures. Specialist Ratings — IPO Grading, Infrastructure Debt Fund Rating, REIT/InvIT Rating, Project Finance (BOT/HAM/EPC), Municipal/ULB Rating, NPA/Stressed Asset Evaluation, and Independent Credit Evaluation (ICE). Our model adapts the scoring framework based on the specific rating type and instrument structure. Browse our complete ratings page for the full catalogue.

Data security and confidentiality are the foundation of our platform. All data is transmitted over HTTPS/TLS encryption in transit, passwords are stored as BCrypt hashes, and each client's financial data is logically separated with access restricted to authenticated users and administrators. Our practices include: (a) No publication or disclosure of any client data or ratings — ever; (b) No data sharing with any regulatory body, rating agency, bank, or third party; (c) Token-based authentication with BCrypt-hashed credentials; (d) Logical separation of client data. Unlike SEBI-registered CRAs whose ratings carry mandatory public disclosure obligations under SEBI regulations, your PreRatings assessment is 100% confidential. If the result isn't what you expected, nobody knows but you. Read our privacy policy for full details.

Yes, this is one of our most valued services. If a SEBI-registered agency (CRISIL, ICRA, India Ratings, CARE, or others) has assigned you a rating that you believe is unfairly low or inconsistent with your financial profile, our "Challenge a Rating" service provides a structured, data-backed analysis to support your formal appeal. We specifically: (1) Identify the exact rating methodology criteria that may have been undervalued or misapplied by the agency; (2) Compare your financial ratios against the peer set the agency used — and flag any inappropriate benchmark comparisons; (3) Reference the agency's own published rating criteria and transition matrices to highlight inconsistencies; (4) Draft a structured rebuttal document citing specific methodology paragraphs, financial data points, and precedent cases. Several clients have successfully obtained rating upgrades following formal appeals supported by our analysis. The service fee is one-time, not contingent on the outcome. To submit a challenge, log in to your dashboard and navigate to "Challenge a Rating."

A preparatory rating (what we provide) is: confidential, indicative, for internal use only, generated by an AI model within 24 hours, carries no regulatory force, cannot be used for public disclosure or regulatory compliance, and is not issued by a SEBI-registered entity. An official SEBI rating is: publicly disclosed (mandatory under SEBI regulations), legally valid for regulatory capital, mutual fund investment, and offer documents, issued after a multi-week process involving rating analysts, site visits, management meetings, and a formal rating committee, carries ongoing surveillance obligations, and is issued by a SEBI-registered CRA under the SEBI (CRA) Regulations, 1999. Think of PreRatings as a confidential diagnostic test before the official exam — it tells you where you stand so you can prepare, improve, or challenge effectively, without any public record. See our rating definitions for the complete scale.

The standard turnaround time is within 24 hours of form submission. In practice, most straightforward corporate profiles (manufacturing, services, IT, auto ancillary) receive their rating within 2-4 hours. More complex cases — such as NBFCs, structured finance instruments, infrastructure project finance, or companies with unusual financial structures — may take closer to 24 hours as the model performs additional sector-specific calibrations and sensitivity checks. If you've submitted on a weekend or public holiday, the clock starts on the next business day. You'll receive an email notification as soon as your rating report is ready to view in your dashboard.

PreRatings fees are simple and transparent. Each preparatory rating is priced on a basis-points (bps) basis applied to the facility or exposure size being assessed, plus applicable GST — agreed in advance in your mandate and confirmed in writing before the AI engine begins processing. The fee is a fraction of what a SEBI-registered CRA charges for an official rating. There is no free tier, no free trial, and no recurring subscription required. Challenge-a-Rating and IPO Readiness assessments are quoted on a case-by-case basis depending on complexity. Register to get started, or contact us for a quote.

After you receive your preparatory rating report, you have several options depending on your objective: (1) If the rating meets your expectations — you can confidently approach a SEBI-registered CRA (CRISIL, ICRA, India Ratings, CARE, etc.) for the official rating process, armed with the knowledge of where you stand and what the agency is likely to assign. (2) If the rating is lower than expected — use the detailed weaknesses section of our report to address specific financial metrics (e.g., reduce debt, improve interest coverage, strengthen current ratio) before initiating the official process. We also offer a re-rating after you've implemented improvements. (3) If you want to challenge an existing official rating — use our Challenge a Rating service for a data-backed appeal. (4) If you're exploring capital markets for the first time — our IPO Readiness and NCD/Bond Rating Advisory services can guide you through the entire process. In all cases, your pre-rating and financial data remain confidential and are never disclosed to any external party.

Our AI engine is calibrated across 24 industry sectors with sector-specific benchmark thresholds, covering the entire Indian corporate landscape: Auto & Auto Ancillaries, Banking & Financial Services, Capital Goods, Cement, Chemicals, Construction & Real Estate, Consumer Durables, Energy & Power, FMCG, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure, IT & ITES, Logistics, Media & Entertainment, Metals & Mining, NBFC & HFC, Oil & Gas, Paper & Packaging, Retail, Telecom, Textiles, and others. For each sector, our model applies different weights to the 7 factors and different threshold mappings from scores to rating notches. For example, a debt/equity ratio of 1.5x might be considered strong (AA range) for an infrastructure developer but moderate (BBB range) for an IT services company. The sector calibration is continuously updated based on rating trends observed in the Indian market. See our sector outlook for the latest credit trends across all 24 sectors.

Several critical differences: (1) Sector calibration — Our model applies sector-specific thresholds and weights derived from analysis of thousands of actual rating actions by SEBI-registered CRAs. A generic Excel model cannot replicate these nuanced, sector-aware calibrations. (2) Multi-factor scoring — Our 7-factor model weighs each metric differently by sector and rating type, something that would require extensive data and modelling to build in-house. (3) Peer benchmarking — Our engine implicitly benchmarks your metrics against the distribution of companies in your sector that have been rated. (4) Report generation — You receive a detailed, structured report with strengths, weaknesses, outlook, and an action plan — not just a number. (5) Consistency — Our model applies the same methodology every time, eliminating the cognitive biases that can creep into manual analysis. (6) Challenge support — If you later need to challenge an official rating, our methodology-tracing and criteria-mapping capabilities provide structured appeal documentation that an Excel model cannot.