January 29 2016, 08.08 AM IST || Pocket News Alert
Khush Housing Finance Limited, among the youngest housing finance companies in the country, today commenced its operations. The company would focus on offering affordable housing finance solutions to economically weaker sections (EWS) and urban poor. Towards this, the company has already established its branch in Thane, a suburban town near Mumbai and is expected to inaugurate its second branch in Virar.
Commenting on the developments, Mr. Amit Magia, Managing Director, Khush Housing Finance Limited said, “The Government of India has set a vision of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022. We believe, for this vision to be achievable, one has to look towards empowering and uplifting the economically weaker sections and urban poor. At the same time, ensure flexible processes are adopted to include borrowers, which are otherwise excluded on technical and documentation grounds. At Khush Housing Finance, we have developed a novel methodology, which not only mitigates the risks but identifies and rates the borrower’s creditworthiness despite technical bottlenecks like lack of documentation and income proof”.
The company in its first month of operations has also disbursed housing finance to two borrowers. “Both of our borrowers were ignored by the traditional banks and NBFCs on grounds of lack of documentation. Having looked into the mandates, we were convinced that despite unavailability of few documents, the cases were highly creditworthy. So we chose to offer them a custom-made compliance process, thereby not only offered them credit but also didn’t compromise on the roust asset quality management”, added Mr. Magia.
The company has also strengthened its core leadership team with joining of several reputed professionals. Guiding the strategy at the helm as the Chief Mentor is Mr. Alok Prasad – a veteran banker and the founder CEO of Microfinance Institutions Network, (MFIN), India (2010-2015). He has held senior positions across institutions ranging from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to Citibank. As a member of the start-up team of the National Housing Bank (NHB), Mr. Prasad was closely involved with policy formulation for development of the housing finance sector.
The company has also appointed Mr. Shekhar Ghotghalkar as Mentor –Policy & Processes. A seasoned banker – Mr. Ghotghalkar has in-depth experience across leadership roles with eminent corporates like ICICI Bank, i-Solutions, Edelweiss Financial Products and OrixAutofinance.
In addition, the company has appointed Mr. Milind Gowardhan, a seasoned banker having more than two decades’ experience in retail lending products in esteemed organisations such as Standard Chartered, Citi Group, GE Countrywide and Cholamandalam, as President.
