Aadhar Housing Finance To Enter Rural Markets, Says CEO Rishi Anand
Praising the new avatar of PMAY, he pointed that changes made by the regulator have allowed for minimising the risk of delinquency by the customer.
Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd. is planning to foray into the rural markets in the later stages of its expansion strategy, according to its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rishi Anand.
"We can see greenshoot happening in the rural areas and when the time comes we will try out the segment," he said.
The company services customers in tier 1 to tier 5 cities but has stayed away from the rural segment so far.
"Greenshoots are happening at tier 3 cities and beyond. That's why we are moving to a strategy called deeper impact. We have got 150 branches in deeper impact—something between the urban and the rural. These are small talukas and districts, we have got 150 branches, and depending on the way we look at it as an indicator, 50 branches per year we will keep adding to tier 3 to tier 5 areas," he added.
In the first stage of the deeper impact strategy, Aadhar Housing Finance will focus on key markets like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Emphasising that demand for housing finance from the economically weaker section segment—which Aadhar Housing Finance caters to—was increasing, Anand said, "A lot of consumers are coming out and wanting to make their houses and we have seen this demand coming especially post-COVID-19 pandemic. That sense of having an asset of your own has doubled up."
He also praised the new avatar of PMAY and said that changes made by the regulator have allowed for minimising the risk of delinquency by the customer.
"The worry that we always used to have is that if the subsidy is credited to the consumer account he could go delinquency post that or he would do a balance transfer of the loan. Now, if you were to take 36,000 per year, you have to stick with the company that has initiated PMAY, subsidising you also have to be non-delinquent to get the next tranche of subsidy," he added.
Under the PMAY 2.0, eligible beneficiaries will get a subsidy of Rs 1.8 lakh in five-yearly instalments.
Aadhar Housing Finance reported strong growth in Q1 of FY25, with revenue rising 20% year-on-year to Rs 713 crore from Rs 593 crore a year ago. Its net profit climbed 37% YoY to Rs 200 crore in the June quarter. The company’s net interest income increased to Rs 439 crore in Q1 FY25.
