Chennai: Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (Chola), the financial services arm of the Murugappa Group, is expected to exceed Rs 1,000 crore in its gold loan portfolio by the end of FY26, its president and CFO Arul Selvan D said. The Chennai-headquartered NBFC, which made a foray into the segment in May last year, is focused on building this new portfolio.As of Dec 2025, the company had disbursed Rs 1,339 crore in gold loans, including Rs 772 crore in Q3 FY26, and the assets under management (AUM) in this portfolio stood at Rs 980 crore. “This business is doing well. What we need to be careful about is spurious gold, which was our initial focus. We have put in place systems, controls, and verification mechanisms to ensure that the gold is safe. With gold prices appreciating, the portfolio is yielding decent returns. We should easily cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark by the end of March 2026,” he told TOI in an interview. The gold loan business is operated out of 118 dedicated branches in the southern and eastern parts of India. The gold loan portfolio accounts for 4% of total disbursements year-to-date as of Dec 2025. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio stood at 75%. “Actually, it is moving to 85% following the new regulation. We will scale up progressively as we continue establishing new branches,” he added. Asked about growth plans for the gold loan vertical, he said there are plans to expand the business in the next financial year. “We are working on the business plan, though we cannot share target numbers for the upcoming financial year,” Selvan said. The company reported total AUM of Rs 2,27,770 crore as of Dec 31, 2025.
