Bajaj Finance Limited (Formerly Known as Bajaj Auto Finance Limited), is a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv Limited. The Company is engaged in business of lending and acceptance of deposits. It has a diversified lending portfolio across retail, SMEs, and commercial
customers with significant presence in both urban and rural India. It accepts public and corporate deposits and offers variety of financial services products to its customers.
The Company has two wholly owned subsidiaries, viz Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd. (BHFL) and Bajaj Financial Securities Ltd. The Reserve Bank of India classified the Company as an Asset Finance Company. Apart from this, it focuses on six broad categories: Consumer Lending, SME Lending, Commercial Lending, Rural Lending, Deposits; and Partnerships and Services.
Bajaj Auto Finance Limited was originally incorporated on March 25, 1987 as a Non-Banking Financial Company primarily focused on providing two and three-wheeler finance. On 20 October 1987, it became a deemed Public Company u/s 43A(1) of the Companies Act 1956. On 24 September 1988, it was registered as a Public Limited Company. On 5 March 1998, Bajaj Auto Finance registered with RBI as a Non-Bank Company. In 1994-95, Bajaj Auto Finance came out an Initial Public Offer and was listed on the BSE and NSE. Subsequently, the Company ventured into consumer lending, SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) lending, commercial lending, rural lending, deposits, and wealth management.
Initially, the Company was promoted by erstwhile Bajaj Auto Ltd and Bajaj Auto Holdings Ltd. As per Scheme of Demerger of erstwhile Bajaj Auto Ltd, the shareholding of Bajaj Auto Limited in the Company was vested with Bajaj Finserv Limited.
In order to offer various finance schemes, the Company opened many branches in various locations throughout the country. During the years 1991-95, the company opened their branch offices at Hyderabad, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Vijaywada, Nasik, Vishakhapattanam, Kolkata, Goa, Madurai and Pune.
During the year 1995-96, the Company completed their first Real Estate Project for Nayan Co-operative Housing Society Ltd at Pune. Also, they opened their branch offices at Baroda and Trivandurm. During the year 1998-2003, they opened their branch offices at various places, which include Chandigarh, Cochin, Indore, Ludhiana, Surat, Kolhapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Erode, Jalgaon, Jullundhar, Kanpur, Lucknow, Raipur, Rajkot, Salem, Solapur, Udaipur, Tirupati, Amaravati, Amritsar, Bhavnagar, Durgapur, Jamshedpur, Jodhpur, Kopergaon, Mehsana, Mysore, Siliguri and Vellore.
During the year 2003-04, the company entered into the financing of Personal Computers. They opened their branch offices at Hissar, Hubli, Patiala, Rourkela, Agra, Ahmednagar, Ajmer, Akola, Alwar, Ambala, Anand, Bharuch, Bhilai, Chandrapur, Dindigul, Eluru, Guna, Gurgaon, Himatnagar, Jagadhri, Jamnagar, Karaikudi, Karimnagar, Karur, Kottayam, Kurnool, Navsari, Nellore, Palghat, Rajahmundry, Sangli, Tanjore, Tirunelveli and Ujjain during the year 2004-05.
During the year 2005-06, the company opened Loan Shoppes with a view to enhance their direct marketing activity and their brand awareness. They opened 22 shoppes and 14 new branch offices during the financial year.
During the year 2006-07, the company opened 11 new branch offices, in which the total number of branches has gone up to 113. Also, they cover 280 towns through their branch network.
The company launched new product lines/extensions during the year 2007-08. They launched IPO financing for high networth customers, acquisition of AAA rated securitization transactions, personal loan cross sell programme to their existing customers and financing for personal computers to SMEs.
On 6 September 2010, name of the Company was changed from Bajaj Auto Finance to Bajaj Finance Limited.
In 2013, the company makes Rights issue in the Ratio of 3:19. On 1 November 2014, the company acquired 100% shares of Bajaj Financial Solutions for a consideration of Rs. 17 crore from its holding company Bajaj Finserv to promote the business of housing finance. Bajaj Housing Finance Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bajaj Finance received certificate of registration on 2 October 2015 from the National Housing Bank to commence housing finance business.
In June 2015, Bajaj Finance raised Rs. 1400 crore through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP).
On 8 August 2017, Bajaj Finance entered into an agreement with One Mobikwik Systems Private Limited (Mobikwik) and invested an amount of Rs. 225 crore in the equity shares and cumulative compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) of Mobikwik, a mobile wallet major. Post conversion of CCPS, Bajaj Finance would hold approximately 10.83% of equity in MobiKwik on a fully diluted basis.
In September 2017, Bajaj Finance raised Rs. 4500 crore through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP). The QIP was priced at Rs. 1,690 per equity share of Rs. 2 face value.
On 11 October 2017, Bajaj Finance and LG Electronics India announced the launch of an exclusive OEM co-branded card - LG Bajaj Finserv EMI card that will enable customers to buy all LG products at no cost EMI option across all LG formats.
During the FY 2017-18, the company's assets under management (AUM) stood at Rs 80,444 crore on standalone basis and Rs 84,033 on consolidated basis, As on 31 March 2018, the company is present in 1,332 locations across the country, including 602 rural locations.
During FY2018, the Company raised approximately Rs 4,500 crore through the Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) route by issuing 6,627,218 equity shares of face value of Rs 2 at a premium of Rs 1,688 per share. This was the largest QIP of equity shares by any NBFC in India.
BFL continued to grow its Co-branded Credit Cards business with RBL Bank. The number of cards-in-force stood at over 380,000 as on 31 March 2018.
BFL entered into an strategic partnership with One MobiKwik Systems Pvt. Ltd. (MobiKwik') on 8 August 2017, and invested approximately Rs 225 crore in the equity shares and cumulative compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCCPS) of MobiKwik. Based on the capital structure of Mobikwik as on the date of investment, the Company will hold approximately 12.38% of equity in Mobikwik on a fully diluted basis post conversion of CCCPS.
During the FY 2017-18, the company has received the following important awards: a. Featured among the Top 18 Best Employers in India', 2017 by Aon Hewitt. The company has been awarded India's Leading NBFC - Other than Infrastructure Financing' by Dun and Bradstreet. Further the company won The Mint Corporate Strategy Award, recognising excellence in corporate governance.
During the fiscal 2019, the company's consolidated AUM stood at Rs 115,888 crore and a standalone AUM of Rs 98,671 crore, and BFL has emerged as one of the leading diversified NBFCs in the country. As on 31 March 2019, the company is present in 1,830 locations across the country, including 903 locations in rural/smaller towns and villages.
During the FY2019, the company made a strategic investments an amount of in BHFL by subscribing 2,000,000,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each on rights basis. Further the company acquired 100% shareholding of BFinsec from its wholly owned subsidiary, BHFL by investing an amount of Rs 20.38 crore.
Further, the Company was allotted 10,534 Series E compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares of One MobiKwik Systems Pvt. Ltd. (MobiKwik) on 12 April 2019 against the receivables of the Company, pursuant to commercial agreement with MobiKwik, amounting to Rs 8.67 crore. The total investment in MobiKwik as on the date of this report is approximately Rs 234 crore.
The company has won the award Outstanding Company of the Year' at CNBC Indian Business Leader Awards in February 2019. Also the company ranked 9th amongst 'Top 25 Best Large Workplaces in Asia', 2019, by Great Places to Work' institute.
During the fiscal 2020, the Company's standalone AUM stood at Rs 116,102 crore and a consolidated AUM of Rs 147,153 crore. As on 31 March 2020, the company is present in 2,392 locations across the country, including 1,357 locations in rural/smaller towns and villages.
BFL was allotted 45,325 Series E compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares, in tranches, against the receivables of the Company, pursuant to commercial agreement with MobiKwik, amounting to Rs 37.32 crore. The total investment in MobiKwik as on 31 March 2020 is approximately Rs 262.32 crore.
During the FY2020, the Company made a strategic investments an amount of in BHFL -an amount of approximately Rs 1,500 crore by subscribing to 1,333,333,329 equity shares at a price of Rs 11.25 for equity share of face value of Rs 10, on rights basis. The total investment in BHFL as on 31 March 2020 is approximately Rs 5,050 crore.
Further, investment made in BFinsec-an amount of Rs 100 crore by subscribing to 100,000,000 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 issued at par, on rights basis. The total investment in BFinsec as on 31 March 2020 is approximately Rs 120.38 crore.
BFL participated in Qualified Institutions Placement of RBL Bank and was allotted 4,273,504 equity shares at a price of Rs 351 per Equity Share aggregating to approximately Rs 150 Crore.
The Company launched health EMI card product which provides benefits like higher financing limits in 2021; EMI facility at multi-speciality hospitals; discounts on medicines and medical tests; and various other wellness benefits. In FY2021, BFL expanded its rural lending footprint adding 333 locations and deepening its rural geographical presence. At the end of FY2021, it was present in 1,690 locations across 21 states and union territories in India.
During period 2022, the Company expanded its geographic presence by adding 516 locations taking its presence to 3,504 locations,
with a distribution network of over 133,200 points of sale. It acquired over 9 million new customers taking existing customer franchise to 57.6 million as on 31 March 2022. It launched two-wheeler financing across all manufacturers in addition to financing of Bajaj Auto two-wheelers. On 19 January 2021, the Company received approval of the RBI for issuance of co-branded credit card in association with DBS Bank (India) Ltd., which got launched with DBS Bank on 5 April 2022. It formed a strategic tie-up with Cars24.
During the year 2023, Company acquired 41.5% stake into Snapwork Technologies Private Ltd., and post- acquisition, Snapwork became an associate of the Company.
During period 2023, the Company expanded its presence to 3,733 locations with a distribution network of over 154,650 points of sale.