Microfinance growth mostly outside Andhra Pradesh: MFIN

The Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) today said that during FY12-13 growth was witnessed mostly outside Andhra Pradesh (AP) with MFIs in the state experiencing a relatively slower pace of growth. As against this, significant increase in lending was seen in states such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Assam and Uttar Pradesh.

Investor confidence also staged a comeback in the last quarter of FY 12-13, with debt funding to MFIs rising 79 per cent. As against FY 11-12, the gross loan portfolio saw a rise of 23 per cent, pan India with AP MFIs growing by 7 per cent and non-AP MFIs witnessing a growth of 39 per cent.

The study considered data collected from 41 non-banking finance companies – micro finance institutions (NBFC-MFI) that are members of MFIN and representing 85 per cent of the microfinance business in the country.

According to Alok Prasad, CEO, MFIN, at a pan India level, MFIs witnessed a growth of 23 per cent during FY'13, a strong bounce back from last year when growth had slumped to a negative 14 per cent. This showed the inherent strength of the MFI business model and the need for micro-credit by BoP segment borrowers, he added.

Loan disbursal during the year surged 13 per cent as against the previous year.

The state with the largest number of microfinance institutions in the country is Tamil Nadu now, a position earlier occupied by Andhra Pradesh before the 2010 microfinance crisis.

The states next in order are West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.