Mumbai: After making its mark in the real estate scenario in India, Unitech Ltd. one of the largest builders have now decided to step into the lucrative home loan business in India. "Within a year Unitech will start its home loan business," Sanjay Chandra, MD, Unitech said. The services provided by Unitech will include real estate finance and mortgage finance. An unlisted group company will manage the financial service business and Chandra family will use its personal wealth to fund the business.

One of the other interests of Unitech group is to enter the insurance business. The company is actively looking to offer general insurance in India and is currently in talks with major international players in this segment.

India has a well established home loan industry with private sector banks, public sector banks and other financial institutions as its backbone. The major public sector banks are Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda Bank of Maharashtra, Corporation Bank, Bank of Rajasthan, Allahabad Bank and the State Bank of India with its associate banks.

The private sector majors like ICICI, HDFC, ABN Amro, Axis Bank and IDBI corner a major share of home loans issued in India. Other financial institutions like Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) and Indiabulls etc. are already making their presence felt. Looks like Unitech has a real task ahead to establish themselves in this hugely competitive segment.