Sell a Bajaj scooter, finance their EMIs. For years, that was the entire purpose of Bajaj Auto Finance.
But consumers in India wanted much more.
They outfitted their homes with new television sets, refrigerators, and washing machines. They wanted iPhones, hair transplants, fitness equipment and more.
Lending for those hinted at a much larger opportunity. And the Bajaj group seized it.
Bajaj Auto Finance became Bajaj Finance. A legacy auto-financing arm went on to create India’s consumer credit infrastructure, shaping how millions buy things.
Today, Bajaj Finance manages a loan book of over Rs 5 lakh crore, serves more than 119 million customers, and is valued roughly Rs 6 lakh crore. It is twice as large as Bajaj Auto, the parent company it was spun out of.
This is the story of how that happened. Tune in!
Our team has built an interactive webpage for Bajaj Finance. It’s a research guide to this episode. Check it out here: https://the-ken.com/intermission/a-bank-in-all-but-name-bajaj-finance/
Additional material:
Saurabh Mukerjea’s analysis of Bajaj Finance
The Harvard Business case study on Bajaj Finance
Inside Bajaj Finance’s aggressive call-to-sell-loan strategy
Credits for chapter images:
Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Group, Business Today/Bajaj Group, Fortune/Bajaj Group and Wikipedia.
Credits:
Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman G
Podcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao
Director: Vijay Subramaniam,
Video Producer: Vishnu S
Sound Design and Technical Producer: Rajiv CN
Lead Researcher: Raghav Batra
Art Direction: Kavipriya OG
Data Visualisation: Anuj Debnath
Production Agency: Nesara Films
Creative Direction: Sunayana Kashyap
DoP: Subash KP
Motion Graphics: Karthik N
Video Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Tejas Kulkarni, Jayesh Sahu
Colourist: Akhil Raj
Graphic Design and Illustrations: Anusha Sarah
On-Set Production: Chaitanya, Veeresh and team
Audio: Murthy and team
Spot Edit: Girish
Set Design: Saanvi, Thejaswini
Promotions: Pranav Pate, Aakash Raju, Adhavan RK
Writer & Editor (Microsite): Brady Ng
Product Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar
'Intermission' Title Track by Sameer Rahat
About Intermission:
Intermission dives into the histories of iconic Indian companies. It was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our sponsor for season 1.
Disclosure: Zerodha’s perennial fund, Rainmatter Capital, is an investor in The Ken.
About The Ken:
The Ken is India’s first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, and startups in India. Visit the-ken.com and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more.
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