ET Family Business Awards: Muthoot FinCorp's journey from a modest Kerala based player to a national giant

Muthoot FinCorp's journey from a modest Kerala-based southern-India focussed entity to a nationwide financial services player was underlined when it won the award for ET Family Business of the Year-Large.

The high-power jury was impressed by the company's successful diversification, digital transformation and widening of credit access-milestones that mirror its evolution over nearly 140 years.

The roots of the business go back to 1887, when Muthoot Ninan Mathai began as a grain merchant, supplying the staple to local retail markets and large British-owned estates. The family diversified into gold loans in the 1950s, steadily building a financial services business.


The modern avatar of the business took shape after a family partition in 1979, when Mathew M Thomas-popularly known as Muthoot Pappachan-founded the Muthoot Pappachan Group.

Its flagship lending arm, Muthoot FinCorp, was incorporated in 1997 and registered with the Reserve Bank of India in 2002 as a non-deposit taking non-banking financial company.

Now led by third-generation descendant Thomas John Muthoot as chairman and managing director, Muthoot FinCorp has more than 3,800 branches across the country, offering gold loans, small business loans and loans against property, among other products. "This recognition is a testament to the enduring values, trust, and sense of responsibility that have guided the Muthoot Pappachan Group across generations," the CMD told ET. "We see this recognition not as an achievement, but as a reminder of the responsibility we carry towards our customers, the Muthootians and communities."

Rapid expansion across southern and western India between 2005 and 2015 laid the groundwork for scale, while the launch of its microfinance division in 2010-later spun off as Muthoot Microfin-helped extend its reach as a group.