Microfinance in India Approaches, Outcomes, Challenges

This volume presents a comprehensive analysis of microfinance initiatives in India. Through substantive field research and case studies ranging across the country, it examines Indian microfinance within its distinct socio-economic realities — the role of women, financial inclusion, rural entrepreneurship, and innovation — its interactions with multiple institutions, the challenges, as well as future directions.

Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Vignettes in Transformation: Indian Microfinance since the 1990s Tara S. Nair 2. SHG Intermediation and Women’s Agency: A View from Tamil Nadu K. Kalpana 3. The Transformational Potential of Microfinance: Two Case Studies Anurekha Chari-Wagh 4. Integrating Microfinance Clients with the Formal Financial System: A Study of Two Villages D. Yeswanth 5. Microfinance and the Dynamics of Financial Vulnerability: Lessons from Rural India Isabelle Guerin, Marc Roesch, Santosh Kumar, G. Venkatasubramanian, and Mariam Sangare 6. Matching Finance with Client Needs: Some Pointers from a Field Study Savita Shankar 7. Supporting Rural Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Beyond Microfinance Lina Sonne 8. Microfinance and Cooperatives: An Overview Navin Anand 9. The Seen and the Unseen: Revisiting the Impact of SEWA Bank Maren Duvendack 10. Issues and Challenges before Liberal Microfinance Cooperatives: A Case Study Tara S. Nair and Rutwik J. Gandhe

Tara S. Nair is Professor, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad.