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SME Policy
The long awaited first-ever small and medium enterprises (SME) policy was finally launched by the government on 15th August, 2007. Speaking at a press conference, the Minister for Industries Production and Special Initiatives, Jahangir Khan Tareen, flanked by the Governor of State Bank and the Secretary for Industries, revealed its salient features, emphasising that the new policy aims to create globally competitive SMEs with a hassle-free business environment and to ensure provision of modern i...
- Region
- South Asia
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“Push for Innovation” is the New Mantra for IIT Graduates
Pointing out that there would be a much greater premium on innovation in India in future than has been the case so far, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Saturday hoped that the students graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, will push for innovation. Entrepreneurs NEW DELHI: Pointing out that there would be a much greater premium on innovation in India in future than has been the case so far, Planning Commission Deputy...
- Region
- South Asia
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Sri Lanka Agribusiness Firms Reach out to Farmers
Sri Lanka’s agribusiness companies have started a programme to get corporate executives to volunteer their services help farmers improve productivity, reduce waste and get better access to markets. The aim of the programme, launched under the aegis of the National Agribusiness Council (NAC), is to get member firms to provide two executives who will visit rural farmers during their leave period and help solve problems, said Mario de Alwis, former president of NAC. ...
- Region
- South Asia
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Micro Savings & Financial Inclusion
A large majority of the poor in India are outside the formal banking system. The policy of financial inclusion sets out to remedy this by making available a basic banking ?no frills? account either with nil or very minimum balances as well as charges that would make such accounts accessible to vast sections of the population. However, the mere opening of a bank account in the name of every household or adult person may not be enough, unless these accounts and financial services offere...
- Region
- South Asia
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Creating Value at the Bottom of the Pyramid
Acumen has been spotting entrepreneurs keen to invest money in low-income markets in the areas of health, energy, housing and water. Can markets work for the poor? Acumen Fund, a non-profit venture fund, believes so. In Mumbai, the fund has tied up with the pharmacy chain Medicine Shop, which has 140 shops in high-end locations like Gurgaon bordering Delhi. The tie-up has given Medicine Shop, a new identity. It has opened new branches in the slums of Mumbai. The shops hav...
- Region
- South Asia
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Micro-finance firms turn into delivery boys
India?s microfinance, which is perhaps the ruling flavour of private equity players, is actually turning out to be a distribution highway for a variety of goods and services given the huge outreach of over one million customers each that large entities like Share, SKS, Basix and Spandana have managed to create. Fuelled by private equity investment and expansion, many of these entities are looking at reaching as ma...
- Region
- South Asia
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Dubai’s Legatum invests Rs125 cr in Share Microfin, picks 51% stake
In the second major investment by a foreign investor in an Indian microfinance firm, Legatum Capital, a Dubai-based privately-owned finance firm, committed a $25 million (Rs125 crore) investment in Share Microfin Ltd, a Hyderabad-based microfinance institution which is India?s largest. Recently, Sequoia Capital, one of the largest venture capital firms in the world, led a consortium that invested $11.5 million in SKS Microfinance, India?s second-largest microfinance f...
- Region
- South Asia
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Microfinance Institutions Act soon in Parliament
The micro financing sector in Sri Lanka is to be streamlined under a regulatory framework to prevent aid wastage, duplication of funds and corruption in the implementation of projects aimed at alleviation of poverty which is one of the prime objectives of the government. No government could solve this national issue on their own, according to microfinance experts, adding that it?s a collective responsibility of all sectors, including private, non-government and the...
- Region
- South Asia
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