ESAF Microfin gets Rs 65 cr from banks

ESAF Microfinance, Kerala's largest microfinance institution with 450,000 clients, has received funding support of Rs 45 crore from State Bank of India and another Rs 20 crore from Central Bank of India.

ESAF Microfinance managing director K Paul Thomas, who is also the chairman of Kerala Association of Microfinance Institutions, said, “We don't have any operations in Andhra Pradesh although we have presence in seven states in India. So our operations were not affected due to the AP crisis.“

He added that ESAF was one of the very few MFIs which continued to receive support from banks even during the crisis in Andhra Pradesh. As of March 2011, ESAF Microfinance had total loan outstanding of Rs 210 crore.

After an initial embargo on loans to MFIs by commercial banks, the Reserve Bank of India issued guidelines in May, directing banks to lend to the sector and treat them as priority sector advances.