Jairam Sridharan, who recently quit Axis Bank, has joined Piramal Enterprises (PEL) where he will head its consumer finance business.

PEL on Friday announced the appointment of Sridharan as the chief executive officer of its consumer finance business.

Consumer financing is one of the focus areas for the diversified firm.

In financial services, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd (PCHFL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PEL, is registered as a housing finance company and offers various financial products, in both wholesale and retail financing across sectors.

A press statement from PEL said that consumer and small business financing presents a strong growth opportunity in India even as current penetration in the segment is a third of China, and a fifth of that in the US. Further, only 5 out of 80 million MSMEs have access to formal credit.

Sridharan comes with over two decades of expertise in domestic and international retail finance. Previously, as chief financial officer (CFO) of Axis Bank, he had played a key role in raising over $1.8 billion, and also led the finance, strategy, M&A and investor relations functions.