Inditrade (erstwhile JRG), a player in the agri-commodity financing and microfinance business, on Wednesday launched microfinance operations in Karnataka (through its wholly-owned subsidiary Inditrade Microfinance Ltd).
Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Group Chairman of Inditrade Group of Companies said: “We strongly believe that Karnataka has enormous potential for growth of small women entrepreneurs with its focus on industrialisation, which requires ancillary and peripheral services. As a focused microfinance player, we are well-equipped to provide service in an effective and efficient manner in Karnataka.”
Inditrade Microfinance started operations in Karnataka with its first branch in Ballari district and it plans to open another 14 branches by the end of this year in two more districts.
Karnataka tops the list of states disbursing microfinance, with Rs 7,903 crore in fiscal 2018, according to Inclusix 2018 by Crisil. Karnataka was also the top state in terms of loan amount disbursed at Rs 2,219 crore in Q1 FY 2018-19 as per the MFIN Micrometer.
Supporting the vision of the government on Digital India, the company has also launched a completely digitised process. Explaining the company’s strategy, Bandyopadhyay said, “Easy and quick access are the cornerstones for the success of any microfinance initiative. With the country already moving towards a digitised economy, we plan to leverage technology in fulfilling our aim of reaching our customers and catering to their requirements for finance in the most effective & convenient manner.”
“It is for the first time a completely digitised loan disbursement and collection process will be implemented, including client prospecting, eKYC, tracking GPS locations, credit check, decision to disburse loan and money transfer to bank accounts,” he added.
Bandyopadhyay further pointed out that the demand for credit in the unorganised sector in the country is higher compared to the supply. The company plans to create a loan book of approximately Rs 500 crore by the end of the current fiscal, with approximately Rs 80 crore coming from Karnataka.