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Solar-Powered Micro Grids Change Lives of Indian Villagers
In Uttar Pradesh, one of India's poorest states, a pair of US-born entrepreneurs is creating a new model for energy delivery to villages far from the grid. The founders of Mera Gao Power build and operate solar-powered micro grids to provide low-cost lighting and mobile phone charging to village houses, giving many rural people access to both light and power for the first time in their lives.
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- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
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Pathbreakers: Harish Hande, MD of Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO)
Unable to ignore the poorest of the poor who live in abject darkness, Harish Hande decided to put his Master's in solar power to good use. Today, the 44-year-old MD of Solar Electric Light Company or SELCO, retains the same inclusive elan while reminiscing how his company continues to light up lives at the bottom of the pyramid.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
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Creating an impact
FOUNDER and chairwoman of Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX) in Singapore Durreen Shahnaz is seeking to create the Impact Exchange a social enterprise exchange. “By investing through the Impact Exchange, impact investors can significantly lower their market research and due diligence costs, as well as have liquidity in their investments thus allowing for more impact and wealth to be created and brought into the space,” she says.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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Responsible lending key to microfinance
Mumbai: Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are still struggling for recovery after a crisis triggered by an Andhra Pradesh law in October 2010 that reined in MFIs, which lend small sums of money to poor borrowers; the state is India’s biggest market for such loans. The MFI sector was the subject of a Mint Clarity Through Debate event in Mumbai last week. Responsible lending is is key for the sector’s revival, according to the participants. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor K.C. Chakrabarty; director of the Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning Usha Thorat; Basix group chairman Vijay Mahajan; chairman and managing director of Small Industries Development Bank of India Sushil Muhnot; International Finance Corporation’s regional manager, financial markets and private equity, Manoj Prashar; and Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd chairman Chandra Shekhar Ghosh were the panellists in the discussion. Mint’s deputy managing editor Tamal Bandyopadhyay moderated the discussion. Edited excerpts:
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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- microfinance
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Micro-lender’s Own Probe Links It to 200 Suicides
First they were stripped of their utensils, furniture, mobile phones, televisions, ration cards and heirloom gold jewelry. Then, some of them drank pesticide. One woman threw herself in a pond. Another jumped into a well with her children.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Anudip Foundation to Raise Up to Rs 3.21Cr from Omidyar Network
This is Omidyar’s third funding deal in India in as many months after backing Teach For India and Aspiring Minds.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- South Asia
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Muhammad Yunus, IIM-A Set to Float Rs 50 Crore Fund to Seed Social Business
MUMBAI: Professor Muhammad Yunus, the father of microfinance and chairman of the Yunus Centre in Bangladesh, has finally found a taker for his brand of social businesses in India. He is joining hands with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to float a Rs 50-crore fund to seed social ventures.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Indian MFIs Have Deviated From Idea of Micro Credit: Muhammad Yunus
Microfinance institutions in India have deviated from the idea of micro credit, Professor Muhammad Yunus, chairman of Yunus Centre and pioneer of micro-credit, has said."They (MFIs) moved away from the idea of micro credit. That has created all the problems," said Yunus, in a media brefing in Mumbai. "MFIs based in Andhra Pradesh have drifted from their mission.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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