Meeting the PSL Requirements, HDFC Bank Appoints Rural Sales Officer to Increase Business
HDFC, the country’s second-largest private sector lender, plans to expand business by FY18.
Housing Development Financing Corporation better known as HDFC Bank was set up in the year 1977 by Hasmukhbhai Parekh. The headquarters of the bank is located in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Among the Indian banks, HDFC ranks fifth overall as per the assets held, and among private-sector lenders, the bank ranks second.
Recently, the bank has started the recruitment of a rural sales officer. The move is in line with their plans to have a presence where they don’t have a branch and in turn, will allow the bank to generate business from such places. It will also strengthen the bank’s presence in the private sector lenders category.
Previously the bank used to organize loan festivals from time to time in such areas but it didn’t have any permanent presence. As per Ashok Khanna, business head for Vehicle loans “ We used to earlier cover four to five villages and that would take 20-21 days. Then, one day, disburse the loans in these festivals, typically Rs 10-12 crore. This was manpower-intensive and also expensive for us. So, last year, we decided to do something big, sustainable, and long term.
That is when we decided to appoint these sales officers”. Khanna further added that the main agenda behind the recruitment of sales officers is to expand commercial vehicle loans and also private vehicle loans for cars or two-wheelers. “However, it is not just limited to this. Once a banking relationship is built, the bank can also offer gold, personal, and housing loans, etc. The officer can also get the customer to open an account once the relationship is built”.
The bank has further reduced the base rate of its loan offerings to 9.35 percent which is not just competitive but also the lowest among the private sector, this in return will surely give a positive stimulus to the business. As per the operational norms of the Reserve Bank of India the public sector and private sector.
banking institutions are obliged to allocate at least 40 percent of their loans to small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises and must also include weaker sections, the agriculture sector, etc.
Therefore, HDFC’s recent move also demonstrates its adherence to RBI’s policies.
In another recorded statement Khanna said, “If we don’t meet the requirement, we will have to meet the need by paying a penalty and buying from outside and for a period of seven years. It is better to meet your requirements and these officers help in that”.
The sales officers are expected to cover four to five villages approximately, thereby, generating an amount of Rs 1 crore per month. The bank has 170 officers who are working likewise and are planning to hire more such officers in near future. In FY15, this vertical amounted to Rs 1,000 crore in business.
As per some trusted sources, by FY18 the bank plans to collect business amounting to Rs 4,400 crore. The retail advances worthed Rs 225,694 crore at the end of March 2015 and it grew to Rs 238,859 crore at the end of the quarter ended June. The automobile sector loans amounted to the largest share standing at Rs 50,100 crore in the June quarter.
