Shri V.P. Nandakumar is the Chairman of the Manappuram Group of companies based at Valapad, Thrissur. This Group of ten companies has diversified interests in Gold Loans, Asset Financing, Insurance, Foreign Exchange, Money Changing, gold jewellery etc. Its flagship, Manappuram General Finance and Leasing Ltd. (MAGFIL), is today India’s largest listed and highest credit rated gold loan company.

The Group’s origins go back to 1949 when it was founded in Valapad by the late V.C. Padmanabhan, father of Shri Nandakumar. Its activity was mainly money lending carried out on a modest scale. The principal asset of the company was the integrity and foresight of its Founder and, among the people of the area, it soon acquired a reputation as a safe-haven for their investments.

Shri Nandakumar took over the reins of this one Branch business in the year 1986 under unfortunate circumstances. He was then comfortably placed as an officer in the erstwhile Nedungadi Bank when his father expired. As the only son, he was faced with a dilemma—whether to continue in the Bank (and wind up the family business) or to quit the bank and take up the reins of the family business. It is one of history’s fortunate coincidences that he chose to listen to that inner voice in him that urged him to take forward the family business, and thereby uphold the trust of the people painstakingly built up over the years by his father.

Since then, it has been a story of unparalleled growth, with new milestones being crossed every year. And Shri Nandakumar’s leadership has been instrumental in scripting the story. MAGFIL was established in 1992 and, in a short span of time it became (among many other achievements) the first NBFC from Kerala to get a Certificate of Registration issued by RBI, the first NBFC from Kerala to go for a public issue, to issue bonus shares in the ratio 1:1 (and then, repeat the feat three years later), the first Kerala based NBFC to receive Foreign Direct Investment, and also get the highest short term credit rating of A1+ from ICRA.

Today, thanks to the vision and drive of Shri Nandakumar, and the team of professionals he has assembled around him, MAGFIL has a pan-India presence with over 1,250 branches spread across 16 states of India and more than 8,500 employees on its rolls. The company also boasts of a customer base of over two million.

Besides focus on the business, the cause of the wider community is also central to his long term vision. The establishment in October 2009 of the Manappuram Foundation at Valapad has given concrete shape to the Group’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. Its very first initiative was an original scheme providing health insurance to 20,000 Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in the seven Panchayats of the Nattika assembly constituency. They are now eligible for free medical care up to Rs.60,000 per year along with cashless treatment at some of the leading hospitals in Thrissur District.

Shri V.P. Nandakumar is a post graduate in science with additional qualifications in Banking and Foreign Trade.

Other positions currently held by him include:

• Chairman, Finance Companies Association (India)
• President, Financial Service Companies Association (FISCA)
• Vice President, Trichur Management Association (TMA)
• Member, Managing Committee, FIDC (Financial Industries Development Council, Mumbai.
• Honorary Director, Jubilee Mission Medical College, Thrissur, Kerala.

Co promoter of:
     Equitas Microfinance (P) Ltd , Chennai
     Aptus Value Housing Finance Ltd, Chennai

AND

Managing Trustee:
     Manappuram Foundation, (Charitable Organisation)