Financial corporates in Mumbai are diversifying their business operations in the housing finance sector. The recent boom in the real estate market is not only attracting corporate houses in the metropolis as they diversify into the housing finance sector but has also seen a number of non-scheduled and nationalised banks enter the race. The new entrants in the housing finance sector have triggered off a boom in offers of customer-friendly schemes for home loans.

Murari Chaturvedi, Editor of The Accomodation Times told mumbaibest.com that Tata Homes Finance Limited, Birla Home Finance Limited, Reliance Industries Limited and GE Capital, are all working on concrete plans to float a housing finance division in their respective corporate set ups. ``Besides the private sector, non-nationalised, nationalised and foreign banks and non-banking financial institutions (private and public sector), are planning to hit the housing finance market in a big way. Housing finance agencies in the market are turning customer-friendly and have even altered their loan repayment schemes to draw numbers, in the last two years. Housing finance agencies in both the private and public sector are doing financially well. HUDCO, a government-funded housing finance agency which finances the state government's infrastructure development projects, has diversified into housing financing. After National Housing Bank (NHB), a large number of housing finance companies rely on HUDCO for refinancing their proposals,'' said Chaturvedi.

He further added that some of the private companies in the housing finance sector like Home Trust Limited - a company of the Gujarat Ambuja Cement Group, Global Housing Finance Limited - a syndicate of Weizmann Homes Limited, Maharishi Housing Finance Corporation Limited, a company from Maharishi Group, are have also entered the realm of housing finance. State Bank of India (SBI) House Finance Limited, a subsidiary of SBI, Punjab National Bank (PNB) Housing Finance Limited, a subsidiary of PNB are also driving in excellent business. The other players from the nationalised bank sector which are in perfect financial health in the housing finance field are Bank of Baroda Housing Finance Limited and Can Fin Homes.

``Dena Bank, Union Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, United Commercial Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Andhra Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India (CBI) and other nationalised banks have spread out their wings in the housing finance sector. Cooperative Banks like Saraswat Cooperative Bank Limited, New India Cooperative Bank Limited, Bharat Cooperative Bank Limited, Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Limited and Mandvi Cooperative Bank Limited and Punjab and Maharashtra Bank Limited, have diversified into housing finance, too. ANZ Grindlays, IndusInd Bank, Citibank and HSBC, are also offering customer-friendly loans to the local market as well as to Non Resident Indians (NRIs). Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) Housing Finance Limited, which is the largest and one of the pioneers in the housing finance sector, boasts of excellent financial results because their loans schemes are all tailor-made, which covers various needs of varied loan seekers. LIC Housing Finance Limited doles loans for home renovation, re-construction, purchase of new home and NRI housing finance projects. The other insurance company which has sucessfully launched its housing finance company is, General Insurance Corporation (GIC),''adds Chaturvedi.

By :Mani D'Mello

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