New Delhi, India, December 1, 2011: IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is offering advisory services to Ananya Finance For Inclusive Growth Private Limited, to help the company expand its services to underserved and low income states of India. IFC’s support is crucial at this time when the microfinance sector in India has been undergoing a challenging environment.

Ananya Finance is an Indian non-banking finance company that provides financing to small and medium sized microfinance institutions. Penetration of microfinance in India has been low and is geographically skewed, focusing largely on India’s southern states. IFC will help the company design new products through Ananya’s partner microfinance institutions and support outreach to underserved communities in India.

“We will work intensively in the Indian states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and the north-eastern states, high priority states for India’s poverty eradication efforts,” said Vijaylakshmi Das, Managing Director, of Ananya Finance. “With IFC’s support, we expect to expand significantly into rural and semi-urban areas where the need for microcredit is highest.”

IFC will also provide training to Ananya’s staff in risk management, responsible finance management systems, and related areas to help the company strengthen business planning and operations. Similar training facilities will also be extended to selected partner institutions of Ananya to strengthen strategic business planning, operational risk management, financial analysis, capital funding and equity valuation capabilities.

“IFC’s support to Ananya will help make microfinance accessible in rural, semi-urban, and underserved areas,” said Jennifer Isern, who leads IFC’s Access to Finance work in South Asia. “IFC will work with Ananya to develop flexible and responsible financial products needed by clients and their families. In the past year, IFC has been working with its partners in the sector towards building good practices on responsible finance and responding to client demands.”

Ananya Finance works in microfinance, livelihood promotion and other sustainable solutions for underserved communities in India through partner microfinance institutions, most of whose clients are women borrowers. Ananya provides a window through which donors, commercial lenders and other parties can channel funds towards the microfinance sector. Ananya also provides capacity-building services to its client institutions. For more information, visit http://www.ananyafinance.com/

About IFC

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities - all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit www.ifc.org

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