Grama Vidiyal

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Grama Vidiyal Microfinance Limited
NBFC
Industry Finance
Founded 1993
Headquarters Tiruchirapalli, India
Area served
 Tamil Nadu, India
Key people
 S. Devaraj, Chairman & Managing Director
Arjun Muralidharan, CEO
Shirley Devaraj, COO
Products Microfinance
Microinsurance
Networking & Federation
Total assets 1.036 B. INR (2007)
Number of employees
 2242
Website http://www.gvmfl.com/

Grama Vidiyal is a microfinance institution, operating in the Tamil Nadu area of South India. Since 1993, Grama Vidiyal, in partnership with Activists for Social Alternatives (ASA), has provided small loans to women without access to formal credit and who typically have daily incomes of less than INR 80 (USD 2) per day. Grama Vidiyal’s loans outstanding currently exceed Rs.1.157 billion (USD 28.93 million) among its 263,002 women members. Grama Vidiyal is ranked the #4 Microfinance institution in the developing world and the leading microfinance institution in India in the "2007 MIX Global 100 : Rankings of Microfinance Institutions - Composite Ranking"."[1][2]

History

Grama Vidiyal’s parent organisation, Activists for Social Alternatives (ASA) is a public charitable trust founded in 1986 by S. Devaraj, the Chairman and Managing Director. ASA initially concentrated in working with the exploited and deprived to motivate them through education, training, networking, and advocacy. Grama Vidiyal was originally established in 1993 as the microfinance branch of ASA. In April 1997, Grama Vidiyal officially came into existence when it registered as a separate charitable trust distinct from ASA.

In 2007, Grama Vidiyal transformed from a charitable trust to a regulated Non-Bank Financial Company (NBFC). Its status as an NBFC brings Grama Vidiyal under the purview of government regulation but will permit the firm to take on larger amounts of equity capital. Grama Vidiyal expects continued rapid growth, reaching more than two million clients by expanding to other states of India with an excess of Rs.15 billion (USD 400,000,000) in loans outstanding by 2012.[3]

Loan Products

Grama Vidiyal offers a variety of loans to its members.[4]

General Loans currently comprises about 80% of Grama Vidiyal’s total loan portfolio. These are small, collateral free loans offered to women entrepreneurs, ranging size from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000. The loans are disbursed to women federated in groups of 5 or more, with the other members serving as guarantors

Seasonal Loans are given to those who already have a General Loan outstanding and have a history of regular and prompt repayment and regular centre meeting attendance. These loans are offered at times of school admissions and festivals. Seasonal Loans of Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 5,000 are offered.

Business Loans are an individual loan and does not require the guarantee of other group members, but does require a more extensive application in which the business concept, cashflows, and profitability of the business activity is considered in detail. Business Loans range in size from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000.

Other Services

Grama Vidiyal is among the largest microinsurance providers in India. It was studied by the ILO for a 2005 case study on microinsurance[5][6] Grama Vidiyal has been implementing microinsurance since 1993. The sum assured is Rs. 20,000 (USD 500) to the family of the deceased member, on the death of the member due to any cause. Grama Vidiyal currently works with Bajaj Allianz in delivering the insurance. Previous partners include LIC, ICICI Lombard, Max New York, AMP Sanmar and TATA-AIG. For the last three years alone the number of lives covered using insurance is 363,751 and the number of the families enlightened with the claim benefit worth Rs. 10,360,000.

In conjunction with the Activists for Social Alternatives (ASA), Grama Vidiyal takes on a variety of initiatives, including: lobbying and advocacy, women empowerment, poor and Dalit empowerment, and education for poor children.

Investors

Some of the most prominent investors include Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and former partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. Additional investment has come from the Unitus Equity Fund, a $23.6 million fund which invests in emerging microfinance institutions.[7]

See also

Notes

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External links

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