MicroEnsure, an insurance intermediary established in 2005, stated that it plans to launch a microinsurance scheme next year for up to 600,000 farmers in India’s Kolhapur province. MicroEnsure is also a subsidiary of Opportunity International, a global non-profit microfinance network, which was formed in 1974, has assets totaling USD 736 million as of 2007 and lends to over 1 million people globally. The plan will insure farmers against their rice crops failing due to drought or heavy rains. Furthermore, the plan is to help farmers access larger loans to pay for seeds and equipment. According to the World Bank, India’s rural population account for about 72 percent of the India’s 1.1 billion people, and most of the rural poor rely on rain-fed agriculture.
Search Results for: India
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Incofin of Belgium Invests in Asomi Finance Private Ltd. in India
Incofin, a Belgian microfinance fund manager that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs), has taken a 34 percent stake in Asomi Finance Private Ltd. (Asomi FPL) in Assam, India. Asomi FPL is an institution that undertakes microfinance, income generation and development activities in the state. Over 90 percent of its operations is devoted to microfinance, and Asomi has grown from less than 4,000 borrowers in 2005 to over 30,000 reached through 40 branches as of 2008. Incofin was established in 1992, and this is Incofin’s first investment in India.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Agile Financial Technologies (Agile FT) of the United Arab Emirates Signs Deal with Theme Technologies (Theme) of India to Acquire Theme’s Micro-Finance, Micro-Credit and Credit Management Products
Agile Financial Technologies (Agile FT), a software technology provider, will acquire information technology company Theme Technologies’ (Theme) micro-finance, micro-credit, and credit management products. Agile FT will rebrand and launch the products as Agilis Universal Microfinance (Agilis UMF). The agreement is an earn-out mechanism over three years where part of the purchase price is contingent upon the future performance of Theme.
NEWS WIRE: India: Belgian Stake in Assam Firm
Source: The Telegraph
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Bellwether Microfinance Fund Invests $480K in Equitas Micro Finance India
In May 2009, Bellwether Microfinance Fund, a private equity fund based in Hyderabad, India, reported a USD 479,600 equity investment in Equitas Micro Finance India, a Chennai based microfinance institution (MFI), to the CGAP Microfinance Dealbook, the monthly report on microfinance market transactions. The deal was denominated in local currency. MicroCapital has reported on a May 2009 USD 3.7 million investment by MicroVentures in Equitas as well as a securitization worth USD 3.0 million in March 2009.
NEWS WIRE: India: Microfinance Funds Hope for Greater Foreign Cash Flow
Source: Financial Chronicle (India).
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Unitus Announces Ganesh Rengaswamy as India Country Director and Newest Member of Global Senior Management Team
Ganesh Rengaswamy has been named India Country Director for Unitus, Inc., an international non-profit organization that partners with early-stage microfinance institutions (MFIs). Mr. Rengaswamy will head the organization’s India microfinance initiatives including managing the team of consultants, advising Unitus microfinance partners, and serving on the global senior management team.
NEWS WIRE: India: Banks Building Innovative Distribution Channels Through Microfinance Institutions to Reach the Bottom of the Pyramid
Source: Outlook Business (India).
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Giant Builds Microfinance Business: Tata Housing Company and Micro Housing Finance Corporation (MHFC) Offer Houses with Micro Mortgages
Indian companies Tata Housing Development Company Ltd., a subsidiary of the massive Tata Group, and the Micro Housing Finance Corporation (MHFC) have partnered to offer low cost housing. While Tata Housing will facilitate construction of the residential complex Shubh Griha, MHFC will provide long term micro mortgages to approved applicants. The cost of the homes ranges from USD 8,300 to USD 14,200. According to India´s Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, there is a housing shortage of about 24.7 million units in the country, with 99 percent of this shortage pertaining to low income households.
NEWS WIRE: India: SKS Microfinance Raises $16M, Lists NCDs on BSE
Source: VC Circle
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Sahara Mutual Fund of India Launches Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) as a Microfinance Saving Scheme
Sahara Mutual Fund (SMF), an asset management company, has lodged a draft offer document with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to create the Sahara Daily Fund (SDF). The SDF will be a daily systematic investment plan (SIP) where people can invest with a minimum of 10 Indian Rupees (Rs.) (USD 0.20). The SDF is aimed at providing daily wage earners with a microfinance saving scheme. Units are purchased and can be traded on any business day. There will be a dividend option (payout or reinvestment) and a growth option. Dividends will be distributed, subject to profits being available, based on the units held by the account holder.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) Seeks to Provide Guarantees to 57,500 MSEs in 2009
The Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), established by the government of India and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) intends to provide credit guarantee support to 57,500 MSEs in 2009. In 2008, CGTMSE approved about 53,700 MSEs for guarantee support, but ultimately, only 43,555 were covered. This year, CGTMSE has raised USD 451.5 million for guarantee payment to MSEs. In 2008, CGTMSE had raised USD 441.3 million, but was only able to guarantee loans worth USD 343.8 million for undisclosed reasons. CGTMSE is a fund that gives guarantee payments to lending institutions so that microentrepreneurs may obtain collateral-free loans. If a borrower defaults on a loan, CGTMSE compensates the lender up to 75, 80, or 85 percent of the loan depending on the loan amount and the profile of the borrower. The CEO of CGTMSE, OS Vinod, has stated in an interview, “What we are trying to tell the banks is — you don’t appraise the collateral but the project. If the project is good, then the second issue of collateral comes in and we will step in. So, banks have to move from collateral-based lending to project-based lending, which was not happening.” CGTMSE does not directly interact with borrowers and lenders must approve loans before seeking a guarantee from CGTMSE. The Indian government’s Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) created the Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) to improve credit access for MSEs. Together with SIDBI, the government instituted CGTMSE to implement this scheme.
Top Ten Downloads from the Library at MicroSave India
Top Ten Downloads from MicroSave India’s Library at http://www.microsaveindia.org
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
MICROCAPITAL STORY: MicroVentures Reports Investments in Equitas Microfinance of India and Sahayata Microfinance of India, Caritas del Peru and Fondesurco of Peru
During March and April MicroVentures, a microfinance investment vehicle, reported four loans to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Microfinance Dealbook, a monthly report on microfinance capital market transactions. Two equity investments were made to Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) Sahayata Microfinance Ltd and Equitas Microfinance Ltd in March of USD 3.7 million and USD 4.4 million respectively. MicroVentures also granted loans to Caritas del Peru of USD 1 million and to Fondesurco of Peru of USD 750,000 during April.
MICROCAPITAL STORY: UTI Asset Management, Invest India Micro Pension Services (IIMPS), and BASIX to Offer Micro Pension Scheme Supported by Technical Services Grant from KfW
As reported in the Economic Times of India, UTI Asset Management, an Indian mutual fund, has teamed up with Invest India Micro Pension Services (IIMP), a pension and insurance products company for low-income workers, and BASIX, a Hyderabad-based microfinance institution, to offer a micro pension scheme. The partnership is supported by a grant from the German development bank KfW of approximately Rs. 2.2 Crore (USD 438,000) to IIMPS for technical support. Under the plan UTI will offer its UTI-Retirement Benefit Pension Fund to customers of BASIX.
MICROCAPITAL PAPER WRAP-UP: How Does Credit Access Affect Children’s Time Allocation? Evidence From Rural India, by Nobuhiko Fuwa, Seiro Ito, Kensuke Kubo, Takashi Kurosaki, and Yasuyuki Sawada
Written by Nobuhiko Fuwa, Seiro Ito, Kensuke Kubo, Takashi Kurosaki, and Yasuyuki Sawada, and released January 2009 as Discussion Paper No. 183 by the Institute for Developing Economies (IDE), 23 pages, full text available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/files/56716_file_ARRIDE_Discussion_No.183_kubo.pdf
In “How Does Credit Access Affect Children’s Time Allocation? Evidence From Rural India”, the authors seek to quantitatively analyze the effect of credit access on the amount of time allocated by children to leisure, work, and school. This preliminary discussion paper was published by the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), a semigovernmental research organization that merged with the Japanese External Trade Organization in 1998. This study was conducted in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, where the child labor rate is unusually high at 54.2 percent.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Intellecap’s India Development Gateway Presents Sankalp 2009: Social Enterprise and Investment Forum
Sankalp 2009: Social Enterprise and Investment Forum
April 28, 2009, Mumbai, India
MICROCAPITAL STORY: Caspian Advisors-Managed India Financial Inclusion Fund (IFIF) Raises Additional $20m for Investment in Microfinance Institutions
The India Financial Inclusion Fund (IFIF), an off-shore equity fund, has raised USD 20 million in capital, taking its total fund size to USD 58 million. IFIF focuses on equity investments in Indian companies that are “directly or indirectly associated with bringing about the inclusion of the poor within the formal financial system.”