EXPANSIVE VISION

Bajaj Finance, an outlier in terms of digitisation, faces stiff competition. But it continues to expand its reach

- TEENA JAIN KAUSHAL

SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, Bajaj Finance was far from being a household name in India's financial sector. The turning point came in 2007, when Rajeev Jain took the reins as Managing Director. Under his stewardship, the company has delivered remarkable growth.

In the last 17 years, their product lines grew from 4 to 26, loan disbursals from 1 million to 36 million, customer franchise from 0.8 million to 83 million, AUM from ₹2,500 crore to ₹3.3 lakh crore, and profits grew from ₹30 crore to over ₹19,000 crore in FY24. The market share has also grown from 10 bps to 200 bps.

Jain is elated with the phenomenal growth. "At the FY22 AGM, when our AUM crossed ₹2 lakh crore, I presented our ambition of doubling it to ₹4 lakh crore by FY25 with similar return ratios.

We are well on course to disburse over 40 million loans, cross ₹100 million franchise [customers] and ₹4 lakh crore AUM in FY25 with a healthy return on assets and return on equity," said Jain at the investor day held on December 10, 2024.

So, what is the next target for the lending behemoth? Bajaj Finance aims to be the lowestcost operating model in financial services by leveraging digital and technology. "Our focus on fundamentals remains solid," Jain reiterates.

The NBFC aims to double up customer franchise from 100 million by the end of FY25 to 200 million by FY29 and steadily compound AUM at 25-26% while maintaining healthy return ratios.

Bajaj Finance Limited, or BFL, was an early adopter of cloud and data analytics. It now aims to become a FINAI (Finance + AI) company, leveraging AI-driven technology to optimise its processes, boost revenue, and reduce costs.