LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LIC-HFL) has disbursed Rs 1,000 crore as construction finance to 15 builders for April-December period in its south central region (Karnataka).
For the whole year last year, the company financed 20 builders to the tune of Rs 900 crore for taking up construction.
“Since there is good amount of construction activity taking place in Bangalore, we expect this year to surpass last years,” V K Sharma, Director and Chief Executive, LIC-HFL told
For expansion of construction finance portfolio in the region, the company has limitations as, barring Bangalore, there are not many builders or construction companies in semi-urban areas.
“Less number of builders/construction companies in semi-urban areas is a hindrance for us. But off late construction activity has begun in small way and we see business opportunity in long term,” said Sharma.
For LIC-HFL, the south central region has been top performer followed by eastern, central and western region.
Sharma said, “The south central region offices have sanctioned Rs 2,655 crore and disbursed Rs 2,328 crore as on December 31, 2012 for the financial year 2012-13.”
“For the whole year (2011-12), the company disbursed Rs 2,300 crore. With this track record, we expect to perform better this year compared to last year,” he added.
Loan portfolio
Talking about LIC-HFL’s loan portfolio, Sharma said for the whole year we are expecting 20 to 25 per cent growth. From Rs 56,000 crore it is likely to touch Rs 70,000 crore by March 2013. “Currently we are on track to achieve this,” he said.
The company with 10 per cent market share of Rs 6 lakh crore is ranked third. The first is SBI, followed by HDFC.
Talking about the housing finance scenario, Sharma said, “In most of the cities, housing demand has grown more than employee salary earnings.”
“This has impacted many builders and now we are seeing 20 per cent drop in builders launching their projects,” he added.
‘Nimma Mane’
Earlier addressing reporters, Sharma said LIC-HFL for the third year in a row is holding ‘Nimma Mane’ – a property exposition in Bangalore from January 11 to 13.
The company has attracted 73 builders both from Bangalore and across the country for property exposition to be held at RBANMS grounds. Sharma said LIC-HFL has set a loan disbursal target of over Rs 100 crore at the exposition. Last year, the company had achieved a similar amount.