New Delhi: Religare Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (RHDFCL), a Housing Finance Company (HFC) focused on serving underserved and informal segments in India and a step-down subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), has announced the appointment of Pavan K. Gupta as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). His appointment as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer will be effective from 1 July 2026.
With more than three decades of experience across India’s housing finance and mortgage sectors, Gupta joins RHDFCL at a strategic stage of growth as the company looks to expand its footprint under the ownership of REL’s promoters, the Burman Group.
In his new role, Gupta will focus on driving sustainable and profitable growth by strengthening RHDFCL’s risk architecture, scaling the loan book and accelerating technology-led transformation. His mandate will also include diversifying the company’s funding base, maintaining capital and asset-liability management discipline, and improving operational efficiency across origination, underwriting and collections.
RHDFCL remains focused on expanding access to housing finance for low-income households and families operating within India’s informal economy.
Commenting on the appointment, Indranil Choudhury, Group CHRO, Religare Enterprises Limited, said, “We are pleased to welcome Pavan as CEO of RHDFCL. He is a known industry veteran and someone who has navigated the full cycle of a housing finance business, from the ground up to meaningful scale. RHDFCL is entering an important growth phase, and Pavan’s deep understanding of the sector, coupled with his hands-on leadership approach, makes him the right person to lead this journey. With Religare’s strong financial foundation and the steadfast support of our promoters, we are committed to building a scalable and customer-focused housing finance franchise. We look forward to working closely with Pavan as we strengthen RHDFCL’s position in the affordable housing finance market.”
Gupta returns with a proven track record of business transformation. During his previous leadership tenure, he led growth in Assets Under Management to ₹3,000 crore, strengthened profitability and asset quality, secured multiple CRISIL rating upgrades to A+, expanded branch presence to 162 locations, and diversified funding through various capital market instruments.
Speaking on his appointment, Pavan K. Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, RHDFCL, said, “I am delighted to join RHDFCL at what is clearly a defining moment in its journey. The opportunity to build a resilient, technology-enabled housing finance franchise that genuinely serves underserved and informal-sector families is one I find deeply meaningful. I look forward to working with the team to strengthen our fundamentals, scale with disciplined governance, and create lasting value for all our customers, employees, and stakeholders.”
Before joining RHDFCL, Gupta served as CEO of Muthoot Housing Finance Company Limited. Earlier, he spent 17 years across Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), Deutsche Postbank Home Finance Limited and BHW Birla Home Finance Limited, holding senior leadership positions including Business Head – South & West and Head of International Business at DHFL.
A Chartered Financial Analyst from ICFAI, Hyderabad, where he secured an All India Rank 1 in Level 3, Gupta also holds an MBA in Marketing & Finance and a B.Sc. in Physics (Honours) from Utkal University. He has been recognised as a Most Admiring BFSI Leader by the World BFSI Congress (2022), ranked among India’s Top 60 CEOs by StartupLanes (2022), and received the Star Leader of the Year award at DHFL in 2012.
