Mumbai-based Piramal Finance to borrow $1 billion for underserved Indians
Piramal Finance, a Mumbai-based lender, is planning to borrow $1 billion from foreign banks and agencies.
The goal? To offer more loans to Indian consumers and small businesses who often get left out by big banks.
CEO Jairam Sridharan says these loans will run for three to five years and help the company reach people traditional banks usually miss.
Piramal doubles assets to ₹1 trillion
Even though borrowing in foreign currency is pricier right now (thanks to the weak rupee), Sridharan says they will carefully weigh all costs before moving ahead.
Piramal has already doubled its assets under management in five years, hitting ₹1 trillion ($10.5 billion), and expects another 50% jump over the next two years.
With more Indian companies borrowing abroad—$4.63 billion in February alone—the demand for alternative lenders like Piramal is only growing.