Bajaj Finance plans to enter micro, SME & 4-wheeler finance Mumbai, Sep 11 (PTI): Leading retail-focused shadow bank Bajaj Finance is planning to ente'

Mumbai, Sep 11 (PTI) Leading retail-focused shadow bank Bajaj Finance is planning to enter the micro, SME, four-wheeler and tractor finance areas apart from adding 1,000 more branches over the next two to three years, its chairman Sanjiv Bajaj said on Monday.

"We started off as a two-wheeler financier to fund Bajaj Auto customers, then we moved onto consumer financing which was the most successful diversification, and then to loan against property.

"Now we are planning to enter microfinance, SME finance as also tractor and four-wheeler financing. These expansions should happen over the next two to three years," he said while addressing a function organized by the industry lobby IMC here this evening.

"During this period we are also planning to expand our footprint by a quarter of the present strength of 4,000 branches to 5,000. As much as 2,500 of the present 4,000 branches are semi-urban areas, he added.

Since the beginning of its operations in 2008, the company has gone on to become one of the most successful shadow lenders with over 40 million customers all of them today also have a digital card, Bajaj said.

When it comes to value creation in terms of market cap and profitability, he said both rose 450 times between 2008 and 2023, while its loan book or assets under management rose 250 times to close to Rs 3 lakh crore now, during this period.

Bajaj Finance is one of the most valued companies in the 30-share Sensex pack with a m-cap of Rs 4.48 lakh crore.

The company sells over 1.25 lakh consumer loans a day, which was only 18,000-20,000 loans a month in 2010 (18,000 loans a month is necessary for breakeven).

And the numbers have jumped to 1 lakh a month by 2015 when we introduced loans in three hours from the earlier practice of three days. Also each new branch breaks even in a matter of 12 months or even less. PTI BEN MR