The Hindu Business Line : HDFC bets on higher disbursals in TN

HDFC, which recorded a 34 per cent growth in its business here last year, expects to continue the momentum during the current fiscal, according to Mr Mathew Joseph, Regional Manager, HDFC, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Speaking to presspersons on the occasion of the opening of HDFC's second office in the city on Saturday, he said Coimbatore is only the second city in Tamil Nadu where HDFC has more than one office — the other being Chennai.

Last year, HDFC's loan disbursal in Coimbatore was Rs 290 crore compared to Rs 214 crore recorded in the previous year. This year, he was hopeful of the business volume touching Rs 400 crore.

The 34 per cent growth the company was able to register in Coimbatore was higher than the growth recorded even in Chennai where it was about 30 per cent. But in terms of value, the total disbursal of Rs 1,000 crore in Chennai was higher than in Coimbatore.

Explaining the reasons for his optimism about the housing growth in Coimbatore, he said it was not only the expected entry of software companies but also the expansion of existing industrial units, which has been fuelling the real estate boom. It was stated that along with Chandigarh, Coimbatore was favoured as the next investment destination by the software companies in the country. Developers in Chennai have also started showing interest in entering the Coimbatore real estate market in view of the growth potential.

Mr Joseph said during last year, HDFC's loan disbursal in Tamil Nadu was around Rs 1,400 crore and during current fiscal, he expected this to go up to Rs 1,900 crore. It has 203 offices in the country (including 22 offices of wholly-owned distribution company Home Loan Services India Pvt Ltd), out of which 18 branches were in Tamil Nadu.

He said there was a good response from the customers to the `part-floating, part fixed' interest rate scheme to hedge against interest rate fluctuations and the Flexi repayment scheme under which the borrowers could opt for lower EMI in the initial years of loan repayment and higher EMI as the loan term progresses when the salary goes up. While the first option accounted for about 10-15 per cent of the sanctions, the second option has become a hit with younger borrowers. Asked whether HDFC has taken up with the builders the issue of pricing only on the basis of carpet area, he said established players in the construction business followed ethical norms since they were aware that buyers would make thorough enquiries before finalising their investment decisions and any attempt to short-change the customers would hurt their business in the long run.

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