DHFL, India' s second largest housing finance company in the private sector with NIIT Institute of Finance Banking & Insurance Training Ltd (IFBI) and NIIT University today entered into a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch a one-year Post Graduate Program in Financial Services. The program will offer graduates in tier II and tier III cities career opportunities in India’s promising housing finance sector. This program, a contribution to help achieve success for the Union Government’s flagship programs of creating 100 smart cities and accomplish Housing for All, has initiated a concerted strategy to build quality Human Resource for the financial services sector in the Tier II and Tier III cities. Further empowering the women in the tier 2 and tier 3 towns, DHFL will extend the Late Shri Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan scholarship to deserving women candidates.

The MoU was signed by Mr. Harshil Mehta, CEO, DHFL; Mr. Bimal Jain, President, NIIT IFBI and Prof. Suneel Khanna, Vice President, NIIT University.

The first batch of a minimum of 50 qualified housing finance professionals trained in the sales and credit functions would be absorbed by DHFL branches in the identified Tier II and Tier III locations post successful completion of the one-year program. The one-year Post Graduate Financial Services, by NIIT University in collaboration with NIIT IFBI will comprise 9 months residential program at the NIIT University campus, followed by 3 months of internship at a DHFL branch/office. Upon successful completion of the program, the students will be awarded with a certificate by NIIT University and will be absorbed by DHFL as an employee of the company designated as a management trainee. The students will be jointly shortlisted and admitted by DHFL, NIIT IFBI and NIIT University through a selection process.

Given the importance of the quality job creation in the housing finance sector, the program aims to impart knowledge and develop skills in housing finance service quality, credit management, operations, sales, general management, and relationship management. To make the learning more interactive and valuable, the internship will be based out of the Tier II and Tier III cities which are the crucial target markets for DHFL. This will enable the students to get a comprehensive experience about the sector and the business, which will ensure that the housing finance industry attracts the perfect mix of students with astonishing talents.

Mr. Harshil Mehta, CEO, DHFL, said, “DHFL’s tie-up with NIIT IFBI and NIIT University reinforces the Group’s three decades old philosophy and vision to strengthen India’s economy at grass-root level. DHFL is committed to building quality, tech smart and a financially aware talent pool for the emerging markets to help provide best-in-class financial services for enabling home ownership in tier 2 and 3 towns for every Indian, especially in the LMI segment.”

Speaking on this significant partnership, Mr. Bimal Jain, President, NIIT IFBI said, “NIIT IFBI has a proven track record of providing trained manpower to the BFSI industry in India for the last eight years. We are now very excited to partner with DHFL as it provides us an opportunity to extend our expertise to the housing finance sector by designing programs that will help identify and professionally train manpower for the organization, while empowering aspiring youth to access challenging careers in the sector.”

Mr. C. D. Ramesh, Head, Human Resources, DHFL, said, “The objective of this tie-up is to provide ‘employable’ skills' to deserving graduates and at the same time provide them with an exciting career opportunity with DHFL. The program is aimed at equipping the students with the required knowledge and skills in financial services with focus on Housing finance and mortgage lending. While we are launching this program with 50 participants from across India to begin with, the idea is to gradually increase these numbers going forward.”

Prof. Suneel Khanna, Vice President, NIIT University said, “In line with our commitment to offer industry-linked education in the emerging areas of the knowledge society, we are happy to join hands with DHFL and IFBI to impart the cutting-edge training programs in housing finance at our University campus in Neemrana.”

This program aims to facilitate industry-academia partnership for providing excellence in education and building competent professionals in housing finance. Through this initiative, IFBI and NIIT University will provide quality education in Financial Sector, while the students undergo an industry-linked internship at Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited during the course duration.