Case study

Based in Hyderabad, India, BSFL is the flagship subsidiary of the BASIX group, one of the largest microfinance institutions providing small loans to the rural poor, particularly women, to promote sustainable livelihoods. BSFL, founded in 1997, is classified as a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) registered with the Reserve Bank of India. It makes small loans of up to US$220 and does not take deposits. In a country where nearly 260 million people are estimated to live at or below the poverty line around 60 million households have no access to credit, representing between US$4bn to US$12bn in unmet demand for capital per year. BSFL has made over 344,000 development loans since its inception and operates in approximately 5,500 villages throughout the seven states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. By providing credit to local economies it has helped create and support an estimated 200,000 livelihoods. Basix founder Vijay Mahajan moved over as Chairman of the group in April 2006 and handed over charge to BSFL’s current chief executive officer N. V. Ramana.

• Total assets of US$9.6m in 2004/05 grew to US$15.2m in 2005/06 and they now stand at over US$23m.
• Gross loans outstanding have grown from US$13.1m in 2004/05 to over US$22.7m in 2006.
• The number of customers has doubled since 2005, now standing at more than 143,332.
• The number of employees has more than doubled to 805 since 2006.
• ShoreCap’s expertise has helped introduce improved internal auditing procedures.
• Work is ongoing to create a streamlined, integrated IT platform across different business lines.
• Improved training courses have been introduced to strengthen middle management.
• Cumulative creation and support of 197,000 livelihoods since inception.