Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) is an Indian private development finance institution based in Mumbai. It is a major housing finance provider in India. It also has a presence in banking, life and general insurance, asset management, venture capital, realty, education, deposits and education loans. History It was founded in 1977 with the support from India's business community, as the first specialised mortgage company in India and main company among HDFC group of companies. HDFC was promoted by the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI). Hasmukhbhai Parekh played a key role in the foundation of this company which started with the main aim of solving the housing shortage in India and started rising steadily thereafter. In 2000, HDFC Asset Management Company launched its mutual fund schemes. In the same year, IRDA granted registration to HDFC Standard Life Insurance, as the first private sector life insurance company in India. Currently it operates in India, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. Products and services Mortgage The company provides housing finance to individuals and corporates for purchase/construction of residential houses. The type of loans offered by company include loans for purchase and construction of a residential units, purchase of land, home improvement loans, home extension loans, non-residential premise loans for professionals and loan against property and repayment options include step-up repayment facility and flexible loan instalment plan. It is one of the largest providers of housing loans in India. In its Annual Report for financial year 2012–13, the company has disclosed that it has disbursed approx. INR 456,000 crores in 35 years of its existence for a total of 4.4 million housing units.The average loan profile amounts to INR 2.18 million (US$35,160) which lasts for about 13 years and covers approx. 65% of actual property value. From the year 2000,the company started offering housing loans on the Internet becoming first company to do so. Life insurance The company has been providing life insurance since the year 2000, through its subsidiary HDFC Standard Life Insurance company Limited. It offers 33 individual products and 8 group products. It uses the HDFC group network to cross sell by offering customized products. It operates out of 451 offices across India serving over 965 locations. It had a market share of 4.6% of life insurance business in India as of 30 September 2013. HDFC Life has over 15,000 employees.