Construction Industry News
Ummeed Housing Finance (UHFPL), a Gurgaon-based digital affordable housing finance (HFC) company, has received a penalty of up to $20 million (approximately Rs. 160 crore) from the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). US The funding will be used to provide long-term housing finance to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Low Income Groups (LIG) and Middle Income Groups (MIG) in Tier 2, 3 cities and 4 in the country.
Ummeed has been recognized as a 2X Challenge-eligible company that advocates for the expansion of housing financing options for women, strengthening our commitment to gender equality and economic empowerment. The 2X Challenge is a global initiative that supports women's economic empowerment by mobilizing capital to invest in companies and projects that benefit women in emerging markets, said Ashutosh Sharma, Founder and CEO, UHFPL
.DFC is the U.S. governments development finance agency that works with the private sector to channel development capital to emerging markets. In this case, DFC has partnered with UHFPL to fund around 2,000 new low-cost mortgages, with an average size of $11,600 (approximately Rs 9 lakh), with terms of up to 15 years.
The project is expected to create a positive impact in Tier 2, 3 and 4 cities in India by improving access to institutionalized credit through affordable housing financing. Sharma said, This DFC facility will enable us to provide long-term credit to the unbanked population to assist in the purchase, construction and expansion of homes. Our program strongly encourages womens co-ownership of these loans and properties. Our technology-based platform ensures shorter turnaround times for these loans, which is a key requirement of our customer segment.
This is an important transaction that will provide essential financing to support increased access to affordable housing in India, said James Polan, vice president of DFCs Development Credit Office. The project will help India meet the growing demand for affordable housing and increase home ownership among women.
UHFPL began its journey in 2016, providing affordable housing finance to the underserved and underemployed population, and now operates through 84 branches across seven states in northern and central India.
The company has developed a fully digitalized loan approval and disbursement system that can quickly manage customer requests. Although the companys main focus remains the mortgage lending segment, it also offers secured commercial loans to the SME sector. The company offers loans between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 50 lakh for home purchase, home construction, home renovation and repair, real estate loans and business loans. The company has provided loans to more than 24,000 clients since its inception.
The company has built a strong foundation with the backing of four major investors: Norwest Venture Partners, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia, Lightrock and CX Partners. Assets under management (AUM) of Rs 1,350 crore further validate HFC's strong business model and position it well to further expand into new geographies.
