Kolkata-based micro-finance institution Bandhan Financial Services has received a fresh infusion of equity. The GIC Sovereign Fund of Singapore has come in as a new shareholder by pumping in ₹1,020 crore.
It was announced in January that GIC Sovereign, along with the two existing investors International Finance Corp (IFC) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), would invest in Bandhan.
“We have received ₹1,020 crore as equity from IFC, SIDBI and GIC on May 8,” CS Ghosh, Chairman, Bandhan, said. According to him, GIC has invested around ₹641 crore; IFC ₹344 crore; and SIDBI around ₹35 crore. Bandhan, along with IDFC, had been granted in-principle banking licences by the regulator Reserve Bank of India in April last year. Following the fund infusion, its capital base has risen to ₹2,600 crore. According to Ghosh, Bandhan is planning to start banking operations by October this year.