ICICI Bank will increase retail loan disbursement in Uttar Pradesh by 23 percent

Two major segments of retail loans such as consumer loan and mortgages are set to grow at a rapid pace in the state this financial year.

The Bank aims to achieve this growth by expanding mortgage loan disbursement by 20 per cent to

nearly Rs. 2,500 crore in the current fiscal, compared to the previous financial year.

Alongside, it will also grow consumer loans disbursement, which comprises largely of personal, car & two-wheeler and commercial vehicle loans, by 30 per cent to nearly Rs. 1,700 crore.

“Retail consumer loans have witnessed significant growth in UP over the last few years. There has been a robust growth in the economy of the state and we see the potential of increasing the retail loan disbursement in the state by 23 per cent to nearly Rs. 4,900 crore. We are focusing on consumer loans and home loans to grow in the state”, said Mr. Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank.

Mr. Bagchi, while talking to media here said, “A significant driver of this growth is our technology led instantaneous loan offerings to our customers and making our products available in the tier II and tier III towns. Armed with our technological prowess, we now offer home loans, personal and auto loans to pre-approved customers instantaneously through our digital channels".

Within the mortgage portfolio, the focus is to drive growth in the affordable housing segment category. In the affordable housing segment, the Bank is focusing on cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Mathura and Aligarh among others. It is also expanding its home loan proposition to tier II & III cities with robust housing potential namely Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Bareilly among others.

Bagchi added, “We plan to increase our mortgage loan disbursement in UP by 20 per cent to nearly Rs. 2,500 crore in this fiscal. To drive this growth, we have adopted a multi-pronged strategy. This includes, focus on affordable housing segment, expansion to tier II & III markets and increase in credit processing centres (for quick decision making and disbursal of home loans). We have recently launched the industry’s first facility to get instant home loan approval upto Rs 1 crore digitally. This technology led initiative is available to lakhs of our pre-approved customers and is a key part of our growth strategy.”

To make the home loan disbursal process quick and convenient to the customers, the Bank has ramped up its credit processing units from three to 13 centres in cities like Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Mathura, Saharanpur etc. It further plans to add three more units this fiscal taking the total to 16 centres. These will be at Faizabad, Gomti Nagar and Raebareli Road.

On personal loans, Bagchi said that the Bank has been receiving an encouraging response for its instant offering, called ‘Insta PL’. “Through this facility, our pre-approved customers can apply for a personal loan and get money in their account immediately.

Additionally, we have seen good uptick in tier II towns/districts like Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Prayagraj among others for personal loans from both salaried as well as self-employed individuals.

On auto loans, he added, “We have recently introduced pre-approved ‘Insta Auto Loan’, to empower millions of our customers with final sanction letters for car loans instantly, in a fully digital manner. The demand for auto loans in tier II and III towns has been growing rapidly. Our focus will be to tap potential in cities like Faizabad, Etawah, Jhansi, Moradabad and Shajahanpur mong others.”

ICICI Bank has also been focusing on introducing innovative digital solutions for entrepreneurs

and the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) industry that offers them with an enhanced ease of doing business and greater opportunities for business expansion.

The Bank is supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of rural women of Uttar Pradesh by its Joint Liability Group (JLG) programme and has disbursed loans of nearly Rs 340 crore with over 1.20

lakh women benefitting from this programme. ICICI Group has also been actively involved in imparting free-of-cost vocational training to the

underprivileged youth in the state of Uttar Pradesh through the ICICI Academy for Skills. The academy has two centres in Uttar Pradesh at Lucknow and Gorakhpur and has imparted

vocational training to over 3,500 underprivileged youth in the state. By end of this fiscal, it would train nearly 4,600 youth with skills for leading a sustainable livelihood.