Madura Microfinance

We comply with the RBI Fair Practice Code and Industry Code of Conduct. Madura Micro finance was established as a non-banking finance company (NBFC) in 2005 and received its license from the RBI to commence lending in early 2006. Madura, although a relatively new company, carries a legacy that began at the former Bank of Madura. At the Bank of Madu... ra, beginning in 1995, the late Dr. K.M. Thiagarajan, as Chairman and CEO, experimented with a new model of SHG training and lending as a means to create a sustainable profit based model of rural lending. The goal was to develop a system that would be appropriate for mainstream banking and therefore bring infusions of low-interest capital into rural areas on a scale that would be untenable for non-profit organizations. As part of this effort, 95 rural branches of the bank were developed and equipped for this operation. This effort was successful in rejuvenating and expanding the business of rural branches and transforming rural banking into a distinct business activity with profit potential. By the year 2000 Bank of Madura had developed 1500 SHGs, the largest SHG project undertaken directly by a commercial bank and was commended by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) as the No.1 SHG model in India in its report NABARD and Microfinance where they profiled the project: "Considering the achievements during the short span of the project, (it) is in (a) true sense a successful project in terms of social and economic gains to the rural poor women. It is an integrated rural development project without subsidy but with cent percent repayment, resulting in effective use of credit and creation of productive assets." This led to the recognition that the microcredit segment can become part of mainstream banking if appropriate institutional and market mechanisms are created. In 2000, the Bank of Madura was merged with ICICI Bank where the SHG lending operations were rapidly scaled. In 2003, however, Microcredit Foundation of India (MFI) a section 25 ...Read More