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Bajaj Finance is the larger lender on the FY2025–26 figures compared here, while Chola’s disclosed portfolio has prominent vehicle-finance and secured-lending balances. Both grew at roughly 21–22% in AUM and reported ROE figures around 19–20%, but their asset-quality labels and profit-return bases are not fully comparable. These are company-reported operating results for the year ended March 31, 2026—not a live share-price comparison or a buy recommendation.
At a glance: Bajaj Finance vs. Chola in FY2025–26
The figures below come from Bajaj Finance Limited’s and Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Limited’s FY2025–26 annual reports. AUM definitions differ: Chola reports both total AUM and net business AUM, so its total AUM is shown as the closer broad-scale reference, not as an identical measure.
| Measure | Bajaj Finance | Cholamandalam Investment and Finance (Chola) |
|---|---|---|
| AUM at March 31, 2026 | ₹5,09,975 crore | Total AUM: ₹2,42,630 crore; net business AUM: ₹2,24,334 crore |
| FY2025–26 AUM growth | 22% year on year | 21.4% year on year |
| FY2025–26 PAT | ₹20,689 crore, excluding the specified charges detailed below | ₹5,220 crore |
| FY2025–26 PAT growth | 24% on the same marked basis | 23% year on year |
| Reported asset-quality measures | GNPA 1.01%; NNPA 0.41% | Gross NPA 4.4%; net NPA 2.9%; Gross Stage 3 3.0%; Net Stage 3 1.6% |
| Return measures | ROE 19.2%, excluding the specified charges detailed below | ROE 19.7%; NIM 8.0%; PBT-ROTA 3.3% |
| Distribution and customer measures | 119.33 million customer franchise; more than 242,000 active distribution points | 1,761 branches; more than 47.5 lakh customers |
These are reported company measures, not a standardized peer dataset. In particular, customer counts, channels, AUM, asset-quality classifications and adjusted profitability bases should not be treated as interchangeable.
Which lender is bigger, and how fast did each grow?
Scale
Bajaj Finance reported AUM of ₹5,09,975 crore at March 31, 2026, compared with Chola’s reported total AUM of ₹2,42,630 crore. Chola also disclosed net business AUM of ₹2,24,334 crore; keep that separate from its total AUM rather than selecting whichever figure makes the comparison appear closer or wider.
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On the cited AUM and PAT figures, Bajaj Finance is larger. That says nothing by itself about which stock is more attractive: company size is not the same as per-share value, and the figures do not include current market valuations.
Growth
For FY2025–26, Bajaj Finance reported AUM growth of 22% and PAT growth of 24% on its marked, adjusted basis. Chola reported AUM growth of 21.4% and PAT growth of 23%. Both sets are year-on-year company figures, not forecasts. The growth rates are close, but the adjusted PAT basis for Bajaj means the earnings-growth comparison is not perfectly like for like.
How do their lending businesses differ?
Bajaj Finance: a broad product franchise
Bajaj Finance describes a suite of 27 products and 46 variants. Its FY2025–26 annual report also highlights 52.45 million new loans booked and a customer franchise of 119.33 million. “Customer franchise” is the company’s reported measure; it should not be read automatically as the number of unique active borrowers.
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Chola: vehicle finance and secured credit are prominent
Chola, incorporated in 1978 as the Murugappa Group’s financial-services arm, reports lending across vehicle finance, home loans, loans against property, SME loans, secured business and personal loans, consumer and small-enterprise loans, gold loans and consumer-durable loans, among other services.
At March 31, 2026, Chola reported vehicle-finance AUM of ₹1,19,558 crore and loan-against-property AUM of ₹52,295 crore. These disclosed balances make vehicle finance and secured credit prominent parts of its mix, but they do not make Chola a single-segment lender. Vehicle-market exposure is a relevant risk consideration for investors, alongside the company’s other lending segments.
The two companies therefore have different disclosed portfolio emphases, not a simple diversified-versus-undiversified distinction. Segment mix can affect growth, funding needs and credit outcomes, but the figures here do not provide a full segment-by-segment comparison of credit quality.
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What do the asset-quality figures say—and not say?
Reported measures
Bajaj Finance reported GNPA of 1.01% and NNPA of 0.41% for FY2025–26. Chola reported gross NPA of 4.4% and net NPA of 2.9%, and separately disclosed Gross Stage 3 of 3.0% and Net Stage 3 of 1.6%.
On the headline NPA ratios shown, Bajaj Finance’s reported levels are lower. But Chola’s NPA and Stage 3 measures are distinct classifications in its own disclosure; the lower Stage 3 numbers should not be substituted for its NPA figures or compared as if they were the same measure as Bajaj’s GNPA and NNPA. Definitions, portfolio composition, write-offs and provisioning can all affect comparisons across lenders.
Provisioning and risk context
Chola said it held a ₹200 crore management overlay at March 31, 2026 for potential adverse geopolitical impacts on its loan portfolio, and that its FY2025–26 loan-loss figure included the overlay. This is a disclosed precaution, not proof that future losses will rise or that the portfolio has deteriorated.
One year of headline ratios cannot establish which lender is safer. A fuller risk assessment would also examine how each company defines delinquency and impaired assets, its provisioning coverage and write-offs, segment-level credit trends, underwriting, borrower concentration, vehicle-market exposure, funding and liquidity. The figures available for this comparison do not establish those dimensions on a complete, same-basis basis.
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Profit and income
Bajaj Finance reported FY2025–26 net total income of ₹53,324 crore and PAT of ₹20,689 crore on the marked basis. The annual report’s starred PAT excludes three FY2026 items: an additional ₹1,406 crore ECL provision, ₹142 crore for management and macro-economic overlays, and a one-time ₹265 crore charge for implementing New Labour Codes. Those items were recognised in FY2026; the starred PAT is therefore not the same as profit after all those charges.
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Chola reported FY2025–26 total income of ₹31,445 crore, PBT of ₹6,961 crore and PAT of ₹5,220 crore. These are Chola’s company-reported figures; do not compare them with Bajaj Finserv consolidated totals or combine parent, group and listed-company accounts.
Returns and margins
Bajaj Finance’s reported ROE was 19.2% on the same starred basis that excludes the specified ECL provision, overlays and labour-code charge. Chola reported ROE of 19.7%, NIM of 8.0% and PBT-ROTA of 3.3%. The ROEs are close, but the bases are not fully equivalent: Bajaj’s cited figure excludes identified charges, while Chola’s cited figure is its reported ROE. The available figures do not support declaring one definitively more profitable based on ROE alone.
NIM is stated here for Chola only; no directly matched Bajaj figure on the same basis is included. A fuller profitability comparison would need consistent definitions and data for funding cost, leverage, cost-to-income, credit cost and capital.
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What do capital and distribution figures add?
Chola reported capital adequacy of 19.2% and Tier I capital of 14.7% at the FY2025–26 reporting date. A comparable Bajaj Finance capital figure on the same basis is not included in the figures used here, so these numbers cannot establish that Chola has stronger capital.
Bajaj Finance reported a customer franchise of 119.33 million and more than 242,000 active distribution points; Chola reported 1,761 branches and more than 47.5 lakh customers. These measures describe different networks and company-defined customer bases. They provide context on reach, but they are not a like-for-like test of distribution efficiency or customer activity.
Which stock is the better investment?
The annual-report comparison answers operating questions, not today’s valuation question. It establishes neither current share prices nor price-to-earnings, price-to-book, dividend yield, analyst expectations or post-March 2026 operating performance. A decision about which share is more attractive requires those current market inputs as well as an investor’s time horizon, risk tolerance and expectations.
- For a scale and product-breadth comparison: Bajaj Finance is larger on the cited FY2025–26 AUM and PAT figures and describes a broad multi-product franchise.
- For portfolio mix: Chola’s reported vehicle-finance and loan-against-property AUM are substantial, within a wider lending portfolio.
- For asset quality: Bajaj’s reported headline NPA ratios are lower, but the measures and portfolio mixes do not support a conclusion about overall risk from those ratios alone.
- For returns: the reported ROEs are close, with an adjustment caveat on Bajaj’s cited figure and no complete matched profitability dataset.
Use the figures as a dated operating comparison, then evaluate each company’s current valuation and newer disclosures separately before drawing an investment conclusion.
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