Sell a Bajaj scooter, finance their EMIs. For years, that was the entire purpose of Bajaj Auto Finance. 

But consumers in India wanted much more. 

They outfitted their homes with new television sets, refrigerators, and washing machines. They wanted iPhones, hair transplants, fitness equipment and more.

Lending for those hinted at a much larger opportunity. And the Bajaj group seized it. 

Bajaj Auto Finance became Bajaj Finance. A legacy auto-financing arm went on to create India’s consumer credit infrastructure, shaping how millions buy things. 

Today, Bajaj Finance manages a loan book of over Rs 5 lakh crore, serves more than 119 million customers, and is valued roughly Rs 6 lakh crore. It is twice as large as Bajaj Auto, the parent company it was spun out of.

This is the story of how that happened. Tune in!

Our team has built an interactive webpage for Bajaj Finance. It’s a research guide to this episode. It will be live on May 12th. The link will be updated here.

Additional material: 

Saurabh Mukerjea’s analysis of Bajaj Finance

The Harvard Business case study on Bajaj Finance

Inside Bajaj Finance’s aggressive call-to-sell-loan strategy 

Credits for chapter images: 

Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Group, Business Today/Bajaj Group, Fortune/Bajaj Group and Wikipedia.

Credits: 

Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman G

Podcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao 

Director: Vijay Subramaniam, 

Video Producer: Vishnu S

Sound Design and Technical Producer: Rajiv CN

Lead Researcher: Raghav Batra

Art Direction: Kavipriya OG

Data Visualisation: Anuj Debnath

Production Agency: Nesara Films

Creative Direction: Sunayana Kashyap

DoP: Subash KP

Motion Graphics:⁠⁠ Karthik N

Video Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Tejas Kulkarni, Jayesh Sahu

Colourist: Akhil Raj

Graphic Design and Illustrations: Anusha Sarah

On-Set Production: Chaitanya, Veeresh and team

Audio: ⁠⁠Murthy and team

Spot Edit: Girish

Set Design: Saanvi, Thejaswini

Promotions: Pranav Pate, Aakash Raju, Adhavan RK

Writer & Editor (Microsite): Brady Ng

Product Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar

'Intermission' Title Track by Sameer Rahat

About Intermission: 

Intermission dives into the histories of iconic Indian companies. It was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our sponsor for season 1. 

Disclosure: Zerodha’s perennial fund, Rainmatter Capital, is an investor in The Ken.

About The Ken: 

The Ken is India’s first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, and startups in India. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more. 

Follow The Ken on socials: 

Instagram: instagram.com/theken_web  

LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/company/the-ken

Twitter: https://x.com/thekenweb/

This is the story of how that happened. 

The company was among the first to tap into the rural market, become a technology company before most people understood what that meant, crack the supply chain, and bring about a new era of Indian advertising.

Now, Asian Paints is being met with renewed competition and aggression from Birla Opus, JSW Dulux and Berger Paints. 

Understanding why this market is so hard to take requires understanding of how it was built.

—

We also have an interactive webpage exploring Asian Paints' history with reading lists, infographics, and source notes: the-ken.com/intermission.

—

The full episode runs 6 hours and is split into two parts on podcast platforms.

—

About Intermission: Intermission, produced by The Ken, dives deep into the histories of iconic Indian companies. 

Intermission was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our season sponsor. Disclosure: Rainmatter Foundation is an investor in The Ken's parent company.

—

About The Ken:The Ken is India's first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, startups and healthcare across India and Southeast Asia. Since our inception, we’ve published thousands of stories that have been widely discussed, debated and referenced.  Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠, and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more.
—

Follow us on our socials:
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theken_web/⁠⁠⁠⁠
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ken/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/thekenweb⁠⁠⁠⁠
—

We would also like to thank Anupam Gupta, the writer of "The Rise of Asian Paints: Champaklal Choksey, a Doyen of the Indian Paints Industry" (Penguin India, 2024). You can buy the book here: https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-rise-of-asian-paints/

—

Credits

Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman G

Podcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao 

Video Producers: Vijay Subramaniam, Vishnu S, Rajiv CN

Audio Engineer: Rajiv CN

Lead Researcher: Raghav Batra

Art Direction: Kavipriya OG

Data Visualisation: Anuj Debnath

Production Agency: Nesara Films

Creative Direction: Sunayana Kashyap

DoP: Subash KP

Editing and Motion Graphics:⁠⁠ Karthik N

Graphic Design and Illustrations: Anusha Sarah

Colorist: Pranav Bhat

Video Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Himanshi, Jayesh Sahu

On-Set Production: Veeresh, Chaitanya and team

Audio: ⁠⁠Murthy and team

Set Design: Hritika, Saanvi, Thejaswini

Promotions: Pranav Pate, Aakash Raju, Adhavan RK

Writer & Editor (Microsite): Brady Ng

Product Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar

This is the story of how that happened. 

The company was among the first to tap into the rural market, become a technology company before most people understood what that meant, crack the supply chain, and bring about a new era of Indian advertising.

Now, Asian Paints is being met with renewed competition and aggression from Birla Opus, JSW Dulux and Berger Paints. 

Understanding why this market is so hard to take requires understanding of how it was built.

—

We also have an interactive webpage exploring Asian Paints' history with reading lists, infographics, and source notes: the-ken.com/intermission.

—

The full episode runs 6 hours and is split into two parts on podcast platforms.

—

About Intermission: Intermission, produced by The Ken, dives deep into the histories of iconic Indian companies. 

Intermission was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our season sponsor. Disclosure: Rainmatter Foundation is an investor in The Ken's parent company.

—

About The Ken:The Ken is India's first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, startups and healthcare across India and Southeast Asia. Since our inception, we’ve published thousands of stories that have been widely discussed, debated and referenced.  Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠, and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more.
—

Follow us on our socials:
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theken_web/⁠⁠⁠⁠
LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ken/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/thekenweb⁠⁠⁠⁠
—

We would also like to thank Anupam Gupta, the writer of "The Rise of Asian Paints: Champaklal Choksey, a Doyen of the Indian Paints Industry" (Penguin India, 2024). You can buy the book here: https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-rise-of-asian-paints/

—

Credits

Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman G

Podcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao 

Video Producers: Vijay Subramaniam, Vishnu S, Rajiv CN

Audio Engineer: Rajiv CN

Lead Researcher: Raghav Batra

Art Direction: Kavipriya OG

Data Visualisation: Anuj Debnath

Production Agency: Nesara Films

Creative Direction: Sunayana Kashyap

DoP: Subash KP

Editing and Motion Graphics:⁠⁠ Karthik N

Graphic Design and Illustrations: Anusha Sarah

Colorist: Pranav Bhat

Video Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Himanshi, Jayesh Sahu

On-Set Production: Veeresh, Chaitanya and team

Audio: ⁠⁠Murthy and team

Set Design: Hritika, Saanvi, Thejaswini

Promotions: Pranav Pate, Aakash Raju, Adhavan RK

Writer & Editor (Microsite): Brady Ng

Product Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar