V.P. Nandakumar was born into a family involved in traditional money lending. He completed his postgraduate degree in Science and also earned qualifications in Banking and Foreign Trade.

He started his career at Nedungadi Bank, but in 1986, after his father V.C. Padmanabhan passed away, he took over the family’s small financial business. With his vision and leadership, he transformed it into Manappuram Finance Ltd.

Under VP Nandakumar guidance, the company grew from a single branch to a nationwide NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) with over 5,000 branches across India. Today, Manappuram Finance manages assets worth more than ₹42,000 crore and employs over 47,000 people.

The company has also expanded its services beyond gold loans, offering microfinance, home loans, vehicle finance, SME lending, and personal loans, which now make up a big part of its business.

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