CHENNAI: Piramal Finance has forayed into retail housing finance business through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Piramal Housing Finance. The housing finance firm, which had received a licence from the National Housing Board on September 4 this year, is eyeing assets under management (AUM) worth Rs 15,000 crore by 2020, said Ajay Piramal, chairman of Piramal Enterprises. The housing finance unit
already has AUM of over Rs 200 crore.
The housing finance arm will seek to provide loans against property and construction finance and cater to both salaried and self-employed individuals in the tier-2 and 3 cities. It will also leverage the Piramal Group’s relationship with real estate developers to provide loans to their customers.
“Through Piramal Housing Finance, we will be able to deliver a seamless and customer-centric experience to all our stakeholders — including individuals, developers, agents, partners and now the target end-users as well. By doing this, we shall further cement our existing relationships and forge new ones. We are confident that the unique business model being adopted by Piramal Housing Finance will add another dimension to our service offering and establish a blueprint for further growth,” Piramal said.
The retail housing finance business will initially focus on a product rollout across all major metro cities and thereafter seek to establish a pan-India presence, including tier-2 and 3 cities, a company statement said.
Khushru Jijina, managing director of Piramal Finance and Piramal Housing Finance, said: “Given the size, scale and market relevance of the wholesale lending business, it was a natural progression to assess opportunities within the retail lending space. We see the housing finance business as an extended product vertical of our existing business, creating value not just for ourselves but the entire ecosystem.”