S. Viji and Family

Sundaram Finance has financed India's transport entrepreneurs for 70 years. The asset quality through multiple credit cycles is the proof of the relationship.

The S. Viji family is part of the TVS Group, and their primary financial asset is the stake in Sundaram Finance, a non-banking financial company founded by T.S. Santhanam in 1954 that has become one of India's most trusted vehicle financing institutions. Sundaram Finance built its position by financing commercial vehicles and two-wheelers for buyers who needed credit but were underserved by state banks, building deep relationships with the transport and logistics entrepreneurs of southern India over more than six decades. The company now manages assets exceeding Rs 86,000 crore and has maintained asset quality through credit cycles that have distressed many competing NBFCs.

Sundaram Mutual Fund, managed within the same group, oversees a comparable quantum of investor capital. The family's contribution is one of patient institution-building. Sundaram Finance has not been the fastest-growing financial company in India by any measure, but it has been among the most consistently well-run. Harsha Viji carries the family legacy in leadership today.