Muthoot Pappachan Group forays into the Housing Finance Business.

Mumbai, 29 March, 2011.

Kerala based Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), one of the leading business houses in South India, today announced its entry into the housing finance segment, post securing its license from National Housing Bank (NHB). The group has its presence in Financial Services, Hospitality, IT Infrastructure, Automotive, Property & Alternate Energy. Presently, the Muthoot Pappachan Group has an annual turnover of over Rs. 20,000 crore and a customer base of over 10 lakh.

The new venture, Muthoot Housing Finance Limited will be a subsidiary of the flagship company Muthoot Fincrop Limited (MFL). The group plans to invest around Rs.100 crore over the next two years in this venture. The new entity would primarily target the low to middle income housing finance segment and aim to disburse small-ticket loans. In the initial phase, the group intends to roll-out branch offices in large urban centers like Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru & Ahmedabad.

Muthoot Housing Finance Limited will leverage on the group's wide geographic footprint, established field experience with informal customer base across geographies and professions as well as its multi pronged credit assessment capabilities across different product lines.

Elaborating on the subject, Mr. Thomas Muthoot, Executive Director, Muthoot Pappachan Group said, "Muthoot Housing Finance Limited is in line with our group's long-term expansion strategy. We see immense scope in the home loan market, especially in the low income segment. The idea is to be a facilitator to every Indian's dream of owning a house."

"The objective is to tap the opportunity in the middle and low income segment, which is yet to be explored fully. We are looking at customers in the informal segment who have a monthly income in the range of Rs 10,000-Rs 30,000 & an average loan size of Rs. 3 lakhs to Rs. 10 lakhs," added Mr Maneesh Srivastava, CEO Muthoot Housing Finance Limited.

Muthoot Housing Finance Company would be headquartered in Mumbai . It plans to start operations by May 2011 and would open 25 branches in the coming financial year. Given the huge demand for housing in the middle to low income segment and the paucity of organized sector finance for informal sector customers, this business offers a huge opportunity and at the same time serves to fulfill a social objective, which the Muthoot Pappachan Group is committed to in all its businesses.