After many years of due diligence, industrialist Adi Godrej's family took the call to take a dip in financial services business by launching Godrej Capital (GCL). The Godrej family has handed over responsibilities to Pirojsha Godrej, who steered Godrej Properties (GPL) since 2012. GCL, a subsidiary of Godrej Industries Ltd (GIL), which is the holding company of Adi faction's businesses, houses two subsidiary businesses -- Godrej Housing Finance and a non-banking financial company (NBFC) Godrej Finance Ltd.
Adi's son, Pirojsha wants to build a balance sheet of ₹30,000 crore by 2026. GIL will infuse ₹1,500 crore into GCL as initial capital and an additional ₹5,000 crore as equity investments by 2026. The business will expand its retail operations in six new cities this financial year in addition to diversifying customer segments and launching new business lines, the company said.
The success of Bajajs in financial services may be one of the factors that inspired Godrejs in foraying into the business. Godrej family is already in the real estate business and home financing is natural extension to the business. But an NBFC will be a completely a new portfolio of financial products as Bajaj Finance Ltd, which is a leader in consumer lending.
GCL has its footprint in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad, and Pune and will soon be operational in six new cities--- Jaipur, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Indore and Surat. "The company will continue maintaining focus on the growth of secured loans consisting of home loans and Loans Against Property (LAP). Additionally, to fulfil business and geographic aspirations, the business aims to grow its team by 50% to approximately 500 people in this financial year," said the company.
Pirojsha Godrej, chairman, GCL, said that the new entity will form a key pillar in the overall growth of the Godrej Group. "We started with home loans in select geographies in 2020. Having seen strong customer acceptance of our offering, we are very optimistic about the prospects of our financial services venture and will be entering new markets and enhancing our reach across key target sectors and consumer segments."
The company will be focused on digital-first approach. Manish Shah, managing director and CEO, GCL, said, "We envision Godrej Capital becoming a new- age, leading retail financial services institution in the years ahead."
Bajaj's two listed NBFCs -- Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance -- are together valued around ₹7.1 lakh crore in the stock market. Late Rahul Bajaj launched the business in 2008 with his second son Sanjiv Bajaj as the managing director. Former CEO of Citibank India, Nanoo Pamnani, also Rahul Bajaj's relative, was also roped in to guide Sanjiv. Bajaj's journey in financial services has been stunning, to say the least. In just 10 years of operations, it has found a place in the BSE Sensex (the list of India's 30 major companies). Bajaj Finance Ltd has a balance sheet of ₹1.4 lakh crore.
It was Pirojsha leading the discussions from Adi's side in the Godrej family separation. He is the final word in finance and acquisitions across Godrej Industries and Associated Companies (GILAC). Pirojsha graduated from The Wharton School. He got his MBA from Columbia Business School.