India’s HDFC Bank clinches $500m to support microlending for women

The loan will enable the bank to grow its microlending to women, HDFC said. 

HDFC Bank has received $500m in financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support lending to women in India.

In a press release, HDFC bank said that it will use the funds for microloans aimed exclusively for women borrowers.

The funds will be funnelled to self-help groups (SHGs) and joint liability groups (JLGs) enrolled in the bank’s sustainable livelihoods initiative (SLI). 

“IFC’s loan will further enable [HDFC Bank] to grow its microcredit and microlending to women, especially allowing SHG and JLG borrowers to graduate to individual lending schemes,” the bank said in a statement.

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In India, non-bank financial companies and in particular microfinance institutions (MFIs) have served as the major means for women to get loans for income-generation purposes, accounting for 65.7% of total microfinance lending in India, HDFC noted. 

In total, there are approximately 47 million clients in India in this space, with an aggregate gross loan portfolio of $31.6b as of 31 December 2024.

Banks account for 40% of the total microlending in the country, with microloans constituting a small proportion of their total lending portfolios.