MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence is spreading beyond India’s cities and boardrooms, expanding access to finance and public services in rural and underserved communities.
For Indian industrialist Ajay Piramal, chairman of the Piramal Group, the technology has already become central to business operations.
“We are in the lending business and AI is no longer a periphery to our business. It is actually the core of our business,” he told CNA.
Across the conglomerate’s financial services arm, AI is used from underwriting loans to collecting payments, improving efficiency while expanding access to more borrowers.
EXPANDING ACCESS TO CREDIT
Piramal said one of the biggest shifts he sees with AI is in lending to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income borrowers – segments traditionally underserved by banks.
AI-driven risk assessment allows lenders to evaluate borrowers without formal credit histories by using alternative data such as digital payments or utility bill records. This is expanding access to credit in semi-urban and rural areas.
He noted that AI has improved underwriting while automating routine processes, making operations faster and more efficient.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/artificial-intelligence-credit-rural-india-inequality-ajay-piramal-6020996
