The Geographic Distribution of Microfinance Services in India, 2007

Abstract

The microfinance sector in India has experienced explosive growth over the past five years. Unfortunately, as the last nationwide comprehensive survey of access to finance was conducted in 2001 and very few MFIs report client numbers on a district or even state level, little is known about the geographic distribution of microfinance services throughout the country beyond the most obvious characteristics. In an attempt to address this lacuna, the CMF systematically collected district-wise data on number of active borrowers and loans outstanding for several of India’s largest MFIs over the last three years as part of its Map of Microfinance project sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development. In this note, we analyze the data collected as a part of this exercise to paint a picture of the geographic distribution of microfinance services in India and to describe geographic trends in the growth of microfinance services across the country over the past year.

Keywords: microfinance