Grama Vidiyal

infobox company
company_name = Grama Vidiyal Microfinance Limited
company_
company_type = NBFC
foundation = 1993
location = flagicon|IND Tiruchirapalli, India
origins = Bangladesh
key_people = S. Devaraj, Chairman & Managing Director
Arjun Muralidharan, CEO
Shirley Devaraj, COO
area_served = Tamil Nadu, India
industry = Finance
products = Microfinance
Microinsurance
Networking & Federation
assets = 1.036 B. INR (2007)
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_branches = 91
num_employees = 670
homepage = 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 world and the leading microfinance institution in India in the "2007 MIX global 100 : Ranking of Microfinance Institutions - Composite Ranking"." [http://www.mixmbb.org/Publications/001-IND/01-IND.ANLS/02-IND.ANLS.MFI/2007%20MIX%20Global%20100%20overview.pdf]

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. .." ["http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=10&bKey
]

Loan Products

Grama Vidiyal presently offers a variety of loans to its members.." ["http://www.mixmarket.org/en/demand/demand.show.profile.asp?ett=860"]
*General Loan: The General Loan currently comprises about 80% of Grama Vidiyal’s total loan portfolio. These are small, collateral free loans offered to women entrepreneurs. The loans are disbursed to women federated in groups of 5 or more, with the other members serving as guarantors. Repayments for the loans are made at weekly centre meetings, facilitated by field managers. General loans range in size from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15,000.

*Seasonal Loan: Grama Vidiyal provides Seasonal Loans to members 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. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 are offered. The Seasonal Loan business is a small part of Grama Vidiyal’s operations, comprising only 7 to 10% of Grama Vidiyal's outstanding loan portfolio.

*Business Loan: The Business Loan is 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 detail. A two year or one year loan will be offered depending upon client’s repayment capacity. Business Loans range in size from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 70,000. These loans currently make up 7 to 10% of the outstanding loan portfolio.
*Housing Loan: Through client surveys, Grama Vidiyal has realized the need for housing loans. Most clients build additions or new houses on a piece by piece basis, at times when they have extra money. The housing loan will enable members to build or add to their house at one time and pay back the loan over time. Grama Vidiyal plans to make the Housing Loan available by 2008. Loans will be offered in sizes of Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 90,000. Tenure for the loan will be 3 to 5 years.

Other Services

*Insurance: Grama Vidiyal is among the largest microinsurance providers in India and received the Finalist Award in Shimmer Category Insurance from ING and PlaNet Finance. It was also studied by ILO for a case study – “Micro insurance and Microfinance Institutions." [http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/finance/download/cstudy15.pdf] 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

*Networking and Federation: 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

Grama Vidiyal currently pursues equity investments from a variety of institutions and organizations. 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.." ["http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-indian-microfinance-institution-grama-vidiyal-microfinance-gv-plans-expansion-and-receives-usd-35-million-from-unitus-equity-fund-and-vinod-khosla/"]

ee also

*Grameen Bank

Notes

External links

*http://www.grameenfoundation.org
*http://www.asadev.com
*http://www.mixmarket.org
*http://www.sa-dhan.net
*http://www.unitus.com