‘Our strategic focus stays on emerging & affordable housing’

PNB Housing Finance is targetting the ®1 lakh-crore assets under management (AUM) milestone within the next six months, with affordable and emerging housing poised to drive the company’s next phase of expansion, Managing Director and Chief Executive Ajai Shukla tells Kshipra Petkar and Mahesh Nayak in an interview.

- @ AJAI SHUKLA, MD & CEO, PNB HOUSING FINANCE

Excerpts:

With the revised RBI norms, will PNB Housing remain in the NBFC-upper layer segment?

Our asset book is already above ₹90,000 crore. The upper layer threshold is ₹1 lakh crore, and we expect to reach that within six-seven months. However, from a governance standpoint, the layer classification does not change our approach. Even if we remain in the middle layer, our regulatory expectations will be aligned with banking norms and remain stringent. Our view is that compliance standards should not be diluted based on layer classification.

Is stress visible in the affordable housing segment?

We have not seen any meaningful stress so far. However, if the current geopolitical and inflationary environment does not normalise within 30-60 days, there could be some impact on the broader economy, not just housing finance.

Will the war impact India’s inflation and housing demand?