Piramal Enterprises to enter housing finance segment

Mumbai: Diversified group Piramal Enterprises today said it has received board approval to enter into the housing finance market.

The board of directors has given approval for Piramal Finance Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises, to make an application to the National Housing Bank (NHB) for incorporating a housing finance company, the company said in a statement here today.

"Having successfully scaled up our presence in wholesale finance through Piramal Finance, we believe that we have established a blueprint for growth within the real estate asset class. We therefore, feel that the timing is opportune for us to make a foray into retail housing finance," Piramal Enterprises chairman, Ajay Piramal, said.

Piramal Finance has a presence in wholesale finance, catering to the entire spectrum of financing needs across real estate (both residential and commercial) as well as non-real estate (operating infrastructure and other sectors) sectors with a current overall loan book extending to Rs 19,170 crore.

Piramal Finance managing director Khushru Jijina, said, "Having consolidated our presence in the wholesale finance segment, we are excited to extend our services into retail home finance.

The scale of our relationships and existing investments across over 300 projects with more than 100 development partners will enable us to hit the ground running."