Vijayalaskhmi Das, who featured in Business Today's list of the \"Most Powerful Women\", will always be remembered for her contribution to the Indian micro-lending sector

Budget 2020: FM Sitharaman said that government will involve youth in fishery extension through 3477 Sagar Mitras and 500 Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (Fish FPOs)

Experts in the sector expect more small finance bank licences getting issued and the sector emerging as market-driven having listed entities

BT honours women who made a mark in business and created a social impact

Vijayalakshmi Das once hand-held the microfinance institutions. Now, she is doing the same with farmer collectives and churning out women entrepreneurs.

With an aim to take the agenda of financial inclusion further, 2017 saw two categories of small and nimble institutions, allowed by the Reserve Bank of India, take shape in the country.

Now, financial inclusion has acquired a new urgency with the Modi touch. Bankers are not sparing any effort to open accounts.

We just announced a $40 million early stage investment for India innovation, specifically dedicated to start-ups. We have invested in a Mumbai-based analytics company called Covacsis. It is unique for Cisco.

The Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Rules lead to a near-collapse of all MFI companies in the state. Here's how siz women leaders in the sector are coping.

Vikram Akula, who resigned as chairperson of SKS microfinance, says he is confident that the current leadership is well equipped to take the company into the next phase of its evolution.

While a few microfinance institutions, or MFIs, have innovated in providing a mix of client-responsive products and services, most adopted a narrow, uniform model of disbursing group loans to very low income clients, mainly women.

A role model for Indian women in financial services, Naina Lal Kidwai is all grit behind the genteel persona.

With its reputation at risk, its business model under a cloud, the microfinance sector is struggling to survive.

The setting up of the Rs 100 crore  \"India Microfinance Equity Fund\" with SIDBI announced by finance minister Pranab Mukerjee in his budget speech has been welcomed by the Indian microfinance industry.

The report has evoked extreme reactions with some dismissing the recommendations as \"Stalinist micromanagement'' and an attempt at killing innovation.

The private players get a jolt, but that could be good.

The share sale plans of SKS Microfinance, India's biggest microlender, will not just boost its cash reserves. The IPO, one way or the other, will echo in India for decades to follow.

They span generations and are there in every field, from biscuits to banking, from HR to hospitals. Denied entry into a male bastion, they create another industry. They are the most powerful women in the corporate world.