Sundaram Home Finance forays into T’gana for small biz loans

CHENNAI: Sundaram Home Finance plans to double its small business loans branch network over the next 12 months, following its foray into this segment in October last year.

The company has opened up 25 exclusive SBL branches in tier 3 and 4 towns in TN in phase 1, such as Tenkasi, Aruppukottai, Rasipuram, Kovilpatti, Ilampillai and Sivakasi. It is now targeting to take its SBL branch network to 50, as per a release. It had registered disbursements of Rs 65 crore in the SBL segment in the first year. As part of its growth strategy, the company is looking to expand its presence into Telangana. This will be its first expansion outside TN in the SBL segment.

For the small business segment, Sundaram Home Finance offers loans of up to Rs 20 lakhs against House Property to small traders, shops and entrepreneurs.

Lakshminarayanan Duraiswamy, MD, Sundaram Home Finance said “We have made steady progress in the SBL segment establishing a solid presence in Tier 3 and 4 towns in TN. While we will look to strengthen our existing branches, we are now set to foray into locations outside TN in phase two of our expansion.”

He also said “We are currently in the process of identifying pockets of opportunities amongst the smaller towns in TN and Telangana and expect to finalise these in Q4 this year. We expect these new branches to become fully operational next year.”

The company had also recently announced plans to expand into the affordable housing segment and is looking to open 10 branches and hire up to 75 people for that segment in the initial phase.