Umesh Revankar, Executive Vice Chairman, Shriram Finance Ltd, at a press conference in Chennai
| Photo Credit:
Bijoy Ghosh
Shriram Finance is stepping up growth plans, targeting 18 per cent this fiscal, as its partnership with MUFG brings more capital, lowers borrowing costs, and creates opportunities to offer new products.The Japanese financial-services group has strong relationships with the likes of Suzuki, Toyota, Honda and Yamaha, and Shriram Finance is exploring financing opportunities across their ecosystems of dealers, sub-dealers, stockists and component suppliers, Umesh Revankar, Executive Vice Chairman of the company, said in a select media interaction on Tuesday.“We have a relationship, where they [MUFG] will introduce some of their customers and their retail requirements to us,” said Revankar. “There are 1,490 Japanese manufacturers in India who are providing various manufacturing and services. We have been meeting and trying to work on it... that will be one of the strongest additions that MUFG will bring in.”The company also plans to launch supply-chain financing, inventory financing and dealer-financing products by October 1.Another area of synergy is the NBFC’s ability to increase its share of new vehicle financing. Shriram Finance is leveraging its knowledge of existing customers and lower funding costs to offer customers fresh-vehicle loans. Historically, around 90 per cent of Shriram Finance’s vehicle financing was for used vehicles. The mix has now shifted to 80-20, said Revankar.“We are growing very fast in Tamil Nadu [in new vehicle financing],” he added. The State currently accounts for 15–16 per cent of Shriram’s total AUM, supported by 843 branches.As for the growth outlook, Revankar said the company grew at 15 per cent in Q1, and is expecting to grow faster in the second half The company will add 2,000 to 3,000 employees to its current workforce of 80,000 in this financial year, he said. Shriram Finance currently has 3,225 branches and plans to add another 100 by the end of the fiscal.Amid all this, Revankar does not expect the RBI’s new draft guidelines on revolving credit to dent the growth of its MSME portfolio. RBI’s proposals are currently in draft form, he said, clarifying that rolling over a loan is typically a legitimate part of a credit or working capital mechanism. Industry representatives have met with the RBI to explain the necessity of these working capital features for customers, he added, expressing confidence that regulator may take the feedback.Shriram Finance is also preparing to double its gold loan business to 5 per cent of its portfolio. Nearly two-thirds of its branches currently offer gold loans, and the company wants to add another 500 branches to that network.Despite the growing scale and its classification as an upper-layer NBFC, Revankar asserted that Shriram Finance has no plans to seek a banking licence. “Being an NBFC, you are nimble-footed. You can innovate and you can reach the customer and customise the product... so, we would prefer to remain an NBFC,” he said.Published on September 1, 2026
