Dewan Housing Finance Corporation

DHFL was established by Late Shri Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan (16th April, 1949-30th September, 2000), a visionary Indian businessman. The Founder Chairman observed the sad truth that most Indians couldn’t get a housing loan on fair terms. He believed that owning a home is a critical element to the building of an identity for every Indian. He thus set out on a mission to manage this social need. On April 11, 1984, DHFL was established to enable access to affordable housing finance to the lower and middle income groups in semi-urban and rural parts of India. DHFL is the second housing finance Company to be established in the country, however, with a unique mission, which is today benchmark as a model of financial inclusion in the Indian financial services sector. While most experts lauded Shri Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan’s altruism, they posed pragmatic apprehensions on the possibility of this Vision becoming a reality. However, that did not influence the visionary’s mission. DHFL disbursed funds from its own equity contribution and had a return of less than 8% at a time when interest rates were about 18%. But, what DHFL ascertained was the difference between those who see things as they are and the visionaries who see things as they can be.