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Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), India’s second largest private sector housing finance company, is bullish on the housing finance market in Uttar Pradesh.
The company is targetting 150 per cent growth in loan book in the state, against Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,000 crore by March 2016. It also targets to expand its footprint to 30 locations from 16 at present. “Uttar Pradesh is a big market for home loans and has a lot of untapped potential in its Tier II and III towns,” DHFL President and COO Deo Shankar Tripathi told Business Standard.
Citing a National Housing Board (NHB) report, he said by 2022, there would be a shortage of 110 million dwelling units in India compared to 63 million currently. Of the current shortfall of 63 million units, urban and rural areas are projected to account for 19 million and 44 million units, respectively. Of urban dwelling unit shortfall of 19 million, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar account for 70 per cent.
This clearly showed the potential for housing finance in these regions, including UP, which has the largest population amongst all the states, he noted.
Commenting on the central government plan to develop 100 smart cities across India, Tripathi said it would be a booster to realty and in turn give impetus to housing finance.
"We have already increased our presence in some of the proposed smart cities," he informed.
DHFL loan book outstanding grew 25 percent to Rs 44,742 crore in July-Sep 2014 quarter against Rs 35,805 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.
Almost 70 percent of its advances happened in the top 15 urban centres compared to about 85 percent three years back.
"This clearly indicates housing finance market is slowly moving towards smaller centres," Tripathi underlined.
