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

The budget this year, microfinance sector players hope, will see some re-thinking from a taxation perspective that would make government an enabler for growth.

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.

Non banking finance companies (NBFCs) have sought parity in treatment with banks and other financial institutions on matters related to taxation, refinancing and recovery proceedings.

Why new generation private banks are expanding into microfinance by acquiring existing well-run microfinance companies.

In his new year's eve address Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) for middle-income groups. And now, the government has come up with the scheme related guidelines.

The first  to create a flutter in the market was Airtel  Payments Bank, which has been offering 7.25 per cent on savings  deposits. Two new small finance banks, Suryoday and Equitas, which started banking operations recently, are offering between 6 -7.50 per cent for a one to two year deposits.

Thanks to demonetisation, operations for most microfinance institutions have come to a near standstill. Loan disbursements and their repayments have almost  stopped for many microfinance institutions (MFIs) and therefore, in a sense, the  Indian microfinance sector is largely on a holiday.

This may be a political move! The government intends to squeeze farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Kerala, among others. Modi seems to have unleashed a class war, putting systems against the poor and the lower-middle class

In a country where 10 per cent of the people garner 80 per cent1 of the country's wealth, 70 per cent of India's population lives in the rural areas, which are marked by low literacy rates, lack of proper sanitation and medical facilities and inadequate growth opportunities.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday presented his maiden full-year Budget for the 2015-16 financial year in the Lok Sabha. Read the full text of his speech here:

If SME sector can avail benefits of future rate cuts, it will lead to overall push for a steady economy.

According to Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh, the scheme will provide term loans up to Rs 1 cr per borrowing unit to small firms.

The norms will allow micro finance institutions, telecom players, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and public sector companies eligible to apply for bank licences.

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.

N.K. Maini is the Deputy Managing Director of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Recently, he spoke to Taslima Khan on what SIDBI is doing to help small businesses in India.

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has also found instances of tampering of records and pulled up the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Finance Ministry for deficient monitoring of the multi-crore scheme.

The budget has increased allocation to SIDBI, from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10, 000 crore, which will now empower the organization to reach out to more SMEs through commercial banks.

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