Muthoot looking for a foreign partner

Gold financing firm Muthoot Finance would be looking for tie up with a foreign partner as part of its plans to foray into insurance sector, said a management official from the company. The company currently have an insurance broking license.

Speaking to reporters after launching Asha, a gold loan scheme for women, George M Jacob, senior vice president, legal, corporate affairs and marketing, Muthoot Group, said, “We are planning to submit application for insurance license soon. We should have a foreign partner for entering into the sector.”

The initial investment into the proposed firm is expected to be around Rs 300 crore. It would take at least one year from the time of submitting application, for the company to get necessary approvals, he added.

On the hospitality operations, Raxa Collective, a management company under its Muthoot Leisure and Hospitality Services, is in the process of launching two new resorts with a total of around 20 rooms, in Kochi and Mararikulam, in Kerala. The company, which has around five properties including these, has been engaged in developing boutique properties, he added.

With the regulator issuing license for white label Automatic Telling Machine (ATM) centres, recently, the company would start launching Muthoot ATMs, in next two months. Plans are to set up 9,000 ATMs across the country, and in the first year, it is expecting around 1,000 ATMs to be installed, said Jacob.

The company, which currently has around 4,500 branches across the country, has 925 branches in Tamil Nadu and a Rs 5,914.11 crore assets under management (AUMs). Tamil Nadu contributes to about 27 per cent of the total AUMs of Muthoot Finance with over 18,000 customers.

Tamil Nadu is also a key market for the company's money transfer business and around five lakh money transfer transactions with a total amount of Rs 1,000 crore were carried out through the branches in the State, said the company.