After a three-year hiatus, Muthoot Finance is on a branch expansion spree across southern and northern parts of the country as it seeks to post a growth of 12-15% in its gold loan business in FY23.

The gold-focused non-banking finance company (NBFC) has received an approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open 150 new branches. Muthoot plans to open these branches across southern and northern parts of the country within the next two months, adding to its existing 4,617-strong network.

The Kerala-based company, which is India’s largest gold loan NBFC, said demand for credit increased during the coronavirus pandemic. Gold-loan NBFCs require RBI permission to open new branches.

“As the economy gradually recovers, the gold loan demand remains steady and the RBI’s nod for branch expansion reinforces our optimism about a growth of 12-15 per cent in gold loan for FY23,” said the company’s managing director George Alexander Muthoot.

The company plans to operationalise the 150 new branches within two months and train and hire 600 people to support this expansion. “With this step, we aim to deepen our penetration, especially towards the underserved segment of the society, support our customers in fulfilling their dreams and also create employment opportunities,” Muthoot said.

The company recently expanded its doorstep gold loan service across South India. 

In FY22, Muthoot saw consolidated assets under management (AUM) growth of 11% to Rs 64,494 crore and a profit of Rs 4,031 crore.