Spandana disburses Rs 1298-crore to poor women in 3 south states

Spandana of Sphoorty Innovative Financial Services Limited disbursed Rs 1,297.67 crore to slum and semi-slum women in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu till July 2006, thus becoming the first microfinance institution (MFI) in the country to achieve this record.

The MFI also stood first to cross the Rs 1,000-crore disbursement mark in March this year. Spandana's tally alone amounts to over 25 per cent of the total amount advanced by 15 known MFIs to poor women in the country.

Spandana managing director G Padmaja Reddy told Business Standard that the amount had been disbursed as 19 lakh loans under various schemes to 8.22 lakh women in the three states.

The beneficiaries included 7.70 lakh women in Andhra Pradesh, 50,000 in Karnataka and 2,000 in Tamil Nadu. While the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka women received a financial assistance of Rs 1,260 crore and Rs 35 crore respectively, their counterparts in Tamil Nadu received Rs 2 crore.

Despite the setbacks it faced in Krishna district recently, repayment by beneficiaries in all areas, particularly in Telangana, continued at 100 per cent, she added.

She said that the institution's branches at Adilabad, Nirmal and Bhainsa advanced Rs 12 crore (from Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000) to 6,000 small and marginal farmers' families under the 'Agri Family Loan' in Adilabad district.

Two branches, one in Hyderabad and the other in Visakhapatnam, advanced Rs 2 crore to 1,000 entrepreneurs (Rs 25,000 each) under the 'Small and Micro Enterprise Scheme'.

According to Padmaja Reddy, the coastal Andhra branches, numbering 158, have so far helped 6.40 lakh women, 17 branches in four Rayalaseema districts helped 30,000 women and 40 branches in Nalgonda, Khammam, Warangal and Adilabad districts of Telangana have helped over one lakh women.

The recent setbacks in Krishna district have resulted in a loss of Rs 135 crore for MFIs and Spandana's share of loss stood at Rs 70 crore. The beneficiaries repaid up to Rs 8 crore and the MFI hopes to recover 80 per cent of the loss in course of time. The institution has now taken all precautions before identifying and selecting genuine beneficiaries.

Padmaja Reddy said the World Bank Consultative Group to Assist Poor, IFC, Women's World Banking and other reputed organisations gave a clean chit to the MFIs' functioning in Andhra Pradesh and submitted their reports to the state government.