World Bank arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC will invest about ₹1,600 crore in Bandhan Financial Services Ltd.
While IFC is raising its equity stake in Bandhan, GIC is a new investor. The Small Industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the other investor in Bandhan.
According to Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director of Bandhan, the investment will be made over the next one month.
Bandhan, along with IDFC, was granted in-principle banking licence by the Reserve Bank of India in April last year.
Post the ₹1,600-crore investment, Bandhan will have a capital base of about ₹3,200 crore.
The microfinance institution currently has a capital base of around ₹1,500 crore with a 21 per cent capital adequacy ratio.
“The investment is expected to be completed in a month’s time, with GIC Singapore being the new investor,” Ghosh told BusinessLine .
Bandhan is expected to start banking operations by September with some 600 branches across the country.