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Friends of Women’s World Banking - www.fwwbindia.org
The International Women’s Conference held in 1975 at Mexico City brought together women leaders from different parts of the world. A group of women shared at that meeting that poor women are economically active but do not have access to financial resources to enhance their business. Women’s World Banking (WWB) was created in 1980 to address this unmet need. Friends of Women’s World Banking, India, (FWWB-I) is one of the first few institutions created as an affiliate of Women’s World Banking in 1982 with an aim to empower poor and asset-less rural and urban women by improving their participation in sustainable livelihood activities through access to financial services. It is a non-profit organization with a vision to weave together threads of hope and security, in the lives of women among the lowest rung of the economic and social ladder through its Micro Finance programme.
During the initial seven years of its operations i.e. from 1982 - 1989, FWWB’s activities were limited to providing loan guarantees for poor women in the state of Gujarat. Thereafter, in 1989, FWWB’s leadership decided to extend its area of operations and to promote micro finance in different parts of the country. After an intensive study of existing credit-delivery models, and best practices in micro finance in India and neighboring countries, FWWB started training NGOs in setting up micro finance programmes. As a result of these trainings, several NGOs initiated micro finance programmes using a variety of credit delivery mechanisms. These NGOs, however, were unable to access commercial funds for their micro finance programmes in the early years. To make loan funds available to these organizations. |
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HDFC - www.hdfcbank.com
The Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was amongst the first to receive an 'in principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bank in the private sector, as part of the RBI's liberalization of the Indian Banking Industry in 1994. The bank was incorporated in August 1994 in the name of 'HDFC Bank Limited', with its registered office in Mumbai, India. |
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SIDBI - www.sidbi.com
SIDBI was established on April 2, 1990. The Charter establishing it, The Small Industries Development Bank of India Act, 1989 envisaged SIDBI to be "the principal financial institution for the promotion, financing and development of industry in the small scale sector and to co-ordinate the functions of the institutions engaged in the promotion and financing or developing industry in the small scale sector and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. |
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Axis Bank - www.axisbank.com
Axis Bank was the first of the new private banks in India to have begun operations in 1994, after the Government of India allowed new private banks to be established. The Bank was promoted jointly by the Administrator of the specified undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (UTI - I), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Corporation Ltd. and its associates viz. National Insurance Company Ltd., The New India Assurance Company, The Oriental Insurance Corporation and United Insurance Company Ltd. The Bank has strengths in both retail and corporate banking and is committed to adopting the best industry practices internationally in order to achieve excellence. |
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The Bank is actively involved since 1973 in non-profit activity called Community Services Banking. All the branches and administrative offices throughout the country sponsor and participate in large number of welfare activities and social causes. The business is more than banking because the bank touches the lives of people anywhere in many ways. |
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Maanaveeya Holdings & Investments (P) Ltd is an Indian subsidiary of Oikocredit, a 30 year old global Development Financing Institution that responds to the needs of businesses that creates jobs and income for disadvantaged people. Maanaveeya operates throughout India
Maanaveeya works towards sustainable development by providing capital to business undertakings that create jobs and income for underprivileged people. This work can only continue when every borrower faithfully repays the loan amount received, with interest. These repayments are used again to help other poor groups in India. |
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The positive impact of Microfinance on the lives of the poor is an acknowledged fact. Yet there is a long way to go before breaching the gap between the demand for Microfinance services and the supply. In India, Microfinance continues to be hampered by a lack of resources, lack of a supportive regulatory environment, a geographical divide in terms of outreach, issues of capacity building and institutional strengthening. The availability of debt to Microfinance institutions (MFIs) has improved in recent times, although still largely restricted to the mature (regulated) MFIs. Attracting equity, however, has proved to be difficult for the sector as a whole, with very few domestic institutional investors.
Several MFIs in India are at a stage where their programs are expanding and they need to significantly scale up their activities. The sector is thus poised for commercialization with MFIs seeking to become regulated, professional business entities, capable of attracting an increasing amount of mainstream investment, both equity and debt.
It is in this backdrop that The Bellwether Fund was established. Two international social investors came together with a local entrepreneur/microfinance professional in Aug 2004, to establish what would be India’s first (and as yet the only) Microfinance investment fund. Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, Hivos-Triodos Fund Foundation and Viswanatha Prasad ensured that the Fund evolved from a concept in to a full-fledged operating entity in less than a year. The structure and strategy of the Fund were developed over this period, after extensive market research in to the specific needs of MFIs and studying the evolution of the microfinance sector in India. |
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The National Housing Bank (NHB) was established on 9th July 1988 under an Act of the Parliament viz. the National Housing Bank Act, 1987 to function as a principal agency to promote Housing Finance Institutions and to provide financial and other support to such institutions. The Act, inter alia, empowers NHB to:
Issue directions to housing finance institutions to ensure their growth on sound lines
Make loans and advances and render any other form of financial assistance to scheduled banks and housing finance institutions or to any authority established by or under any Central, State or Provincial Act and engaged in slum improvement and
Formulate schemes for the purpose of mobilization of resources and extension of credit for housing. |
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Development Credit Bank (DCB) is one of the emerging private sector banks in India and provides to its customers, DCB aims to provide a comprehensive suite of best-in-class products for specific market segments in chosen locations. It has initiated a liability and select asset product led strategy, through a mix of owned and outsourced products and multi-channel capability. The wheels of change that started turning the year before have started to turn more rapidly as time goes by. |
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