Of risk and reward

AT A TIME WHEN MANY A SHADOW LENDER HAS FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE, BAJAJ'S MEASURED GROWTH STRATEGY HAS PROVED TO BE A WINNER

- SHOBHANA SUBRAMANIAN

FORTUNE, THEY SAY, favours the bold. That certainly holds true for Sanjiv Bajaj. Although he inherited what was considered at the time to be the less-glamorous piece of the family business, the younger son of industrialist Rahul Bajaj has built a fabulous financial services franchise. While Bajaj Finance is a powerhouse in itself with a customer base of 97 million, Bajaj Finserv has made a mark in the insurance space. The group's buyout of Allianz's stake in both the life and general insurance businesses, for a sum of ₹24,180 crore, is a sign of its ambition. Bajaj is confident of being able to run the business profitably on its own and is no longer willing to share the spoils.

There's no reason why he should. At a time when many a shadow lender has fallen by the wayside, his measured growth strategy has put the business in a formidable position from where it can take on the mightiest. Bajaj Finserv's consolidated profits for 2024-25 are estimated around ₹18,000 crore. At its peak, the market capitalisation of the Bajaj twins -- Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv -- was ₹8.46 lakh crore, a level not yet reached even by State Bank of India. Today, the gap between the value of the country's biggest lender and what the famous Pune boy has built is nearly ₹2 lakh crore.