"Exclusively set up to foster home ownership in semi-urban and rural areas of the
country* This was the vision and mandate given by our founder, late Shri H.T. Parekh while
Incorporating 'Gujarat Rural Housing Finance Corporation' In July 1986. We commenced
operations in January 1988 and since then have single mindedly pursued our mission of
helping famiies own a heme of their own. It has been a wonderfj Journey of learnings and
challenges; of finding a different path to deliver credit for housing ii rural areas and
going where no other housing finance companies had ventured. Starting at mie zero meant i
understanding what a house means to families in lural areas and finding ways to assess
incomes of families in the informal \ sector. The learnings led us to the development of a
unique Risk Based Pricing methodology which proved to be the first amongst housing finance
companies and is believed to be the only one of its kind even today. It is worth noting
that the concept of risk based pricing was Introduced when credit bureaus did not exist In
the country. The model has proved to be a vety useful tool in measutig credit risk
uniformly across all our offices.
We had a trying time over a period of 5 years, effecting recoveries of loans to
developers following the real estate crash in the mid-nineties. Besides generally accepted
practices in effecting recoveries, we ventured into unusual methods; one of these was
developing a plotted scheme ourselves under the banner of GRUH GARDENS. This helped
recover lull dues and remains to this day a testvnony to innovation bom out of extreme
exigency.
While we were copfcg with these challenges, (he earthquake of 2001 delivered a
devastating blow to our customers In the state of Gujarat GRUH took an active lead in
offering a moratorium to its existing customers and also went on to take the risk of
extendtog fresh credit not only to GRUH's existing customers whose properties were
affected but also to other families who wanted to rebuild their lives.
The experience of working amidst devastated hopes of these families - with whole
hearted support of National Housing Bank - NHB and the Government of Gujarat -was most
satisfying. Contrary to the general belief that credits extended post natural disaster go
bad, we have had an excellent experience of not a single bad loan!
In 2008 came the Lehman crisis. Its impact on liquidity in the financial system was the
first of its kind that the GRUH team experienced. While banters turned risk averse In
continuing with existing lines of credit, mutual funds who had Invested In the commercial
paper of GRUH wanted premature buy backs at significant discounts. During this crisis,
retail depositors relerated their unshakeaMe faith in GRUH by pumping in the highest ever
inflow of deposits. Except for a slow-down in demand for housing, GRUH sailed through the
storm without a scratch.
Challenges became a part of our life and GRUH continued steadily with Its mission of
assisting home ownership from one stats b eleven states with a determination to carve its
own niche as a shring star of the industry. The consistent growth in profitability while
sustaining the pristine quality of its loan assets over the past 10 years has truly earned
GRUH a place at the top of India's corporate echelons.
Looking back, I feel that a strong will and a desire to excel - while not getting
distracted with competitive players chasing growth for the sake of growth and instead
imbibing the learnings from each of the challenges and maintaining patience to achieve
excellence- has proven to be very rewarding for all the stakeholders of GRJH.
I am confident GRUHites will continue their mission with the same zeal and commitment
to foster home ownership on a much larger canvas under the banner of The Bandhan Bank. I
see the merger of GRUH being similar to the confluence of the Bhagirathi river into the
Alaknanda river at Devprayag to form a huge Ganga thereafter!
At this moment I wish to express my gratitude to all the stakeholders of GRUH for their
whole hearted support and cooperation. I also wish to convey my gratitude to Mr. Deepak
Parekh and Mr. Narottam Sakhserta who reposed confidence in me by asking me to take on the
mantle of leadership at the most critical juncture for GRUH in November 1998.1 will also
remain grateful to Mr Kekl Mistry the Chairman of GRUH who gave complete autonomy In
carrying on the mission of GRUH and I wfll cherish forever the professional working
relationship which we evolved with trust and confidence. I would credit most erf my
personal success to this 'partnership1!
While I remain thankful to the Board of Directors of GRUH, I would want especially to
remember the guidance and support extended by Mr. S. M. Palis and Mr. PrafullAnubhal at
the board level.
Lastly, I will always cherish all my oolleagues at GRUH for their unstinted support,
commitment and dedication without which GRUH could not have become a shining star of the
Industry.
‘Expansion into grass root rural areas helped bring out long neglected social
capital and economic contributions. Obviously it necessitated in depth interactions and
understanding of livelihoods: of farm workers, agri -input suppliers, pastoral people,
peasants and rural entrepreneurs. GRUH has helped to progressively integrate them into the
mainstream of the country's economic and social development.'
Mr. Sudhin Choksey