PNB Housing reaches loan book size of Rs 1,000 crore for affordable homes

Girish Kousgi, MD and CEO at PNB Housing Finance said that at the current pace, the company may add another Rs 1,000 crore to its loan book in the next six months

PNB Housing Finance, the third largest housing finance company in India, on Wednesday announced that it has achieved a loan book size of Rs 1,000 crore in the affordable housing segment. It said that under its Roshni scheme for affordable housing, it aims to double the loan book by March 2025. The scheme was launched in December last year.

Girish Kousgi, managing director and chief executive officer at PNB Housing Finance, said that at the current pace, it may even add another Rs 1,000 crore to its loan book for affordable homes in the next six months.

"This seems to be the fastest Rs 1,000 crore assets under management by any affordable housing finance company," Kousgi said at a press interaction in New Delhi.

"There is a strong demand for affordable housing in the country, owing to the rapid rate of urbanisation, growing younger population, increasing per capita income and higher demand of housing units beyond the metro cities."

Under the Roshni scheme, the company provides loans for ticket sizes in the range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 35 lakh.

PNB Housing Finance is also expanding its physical presence. It recently inaugurated its 100th Roshni branch in India, also its first all-women branch. By March 2024, it aims to open 60 more branches for the affordable segment, taking the total to 160 branches.

Kousgi said that currently, the share of affordable housing in its total retail loan book is 10 per cent. "Next year, we aim to take it to 20 per cent and 40 per cent in the next 4-5 years," he said.

For PNB Housing Finance as a whole, the total loan book by value stands at Rs 60,000 crore and it is aiming to take it to Rs 1 trillion in the next 3 to 3.5 years. For this, it is also expanding its presence in the bigger housing "prime" loans as well.

Currently, at 100 branches, it is aiming to open 38 more branches for "prime" loans, taking the total of all housing finance branches close to 300 at the end of the current financial year.

Kousgi added that despite the interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the demand for affordable houses has not gone down and in the upcoming monetary policy announcement, it is expected to keep the rate unchanged.

"We feel that this consolidation phase will continue for some months, and after that, the rates are likely to start going down, maybe starting at 25 basis points," he said. "I think the increase is over".