Gross loan portfolios of micro-finance institutions (MFIs) grew at a whopping 44% year-on-year to R26,150 crore in the first quarter of FY15, according to data collected by industry body Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN).
MFIN, in a report on Monday, said client coverage rose 23% y-o-y, with 26.5 million low-income households across 493 districts getting micro-loans from MFIs. Average loan amount disbursed per account remained under R15,000. Productivity ratios for MFIs continued to improve with gross loan portfolio per branch at R2.6 crore, up 32% over Q1FY14. Funding availed by MFIs in Q1FY15 grew 154%; about 77% of this came from banks and rest from other financial institutions. Alok Prasad, CEO at MFIN, said the Reserve Bank of India?s supportive regulatory framework and a forward looking policy on financial inclusion has promoted a robust partnership model between banks and MFIs. ?Many MFIN members are now well positioned to take the big leap towards transformation as specialised ?small finance banks?, meeting the full range of banking requirements of the BOP segments and micro/small enterprises,? he added in a note. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka continue to have the highest concentration of MFIs.
The top states in terms of disbursements were West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, accounting for approximately 60% of disbursements by MFIs. Gross loan portfolio distribution was 27% in the east and 33% in the south, while the western and northern areas accounted for 20% each. The MFI industry also provided insurance to over 28.3 million clients and the total sum insured extended was R44,860 crore. Pension accounts were extended to cover over 1.5 million clients, according to data reported by 14 MFIs.
