Field Reports

• Multiple needs, multiple strategies
  Profiles of customers of Dhanei Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (DKGFS), an IFMR Trust venture in Ganjam, Orissa, illustrate the variety of needs, perceptions and priorities that have to be addressed by any financial system that hopes to cater to low-income households in rural areas. more
• Building a rural tourism model
  Rural Tourism Network Enterprise (RTNE), a rural tourism initiative launched by IFMR Trust, has recorded significant success in its pilot project in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra more
• Commodity-backed financing for Tasar silk producers
  In association with Pradan, a reputed NGO, IFMR Trust has piloted a novel financing mechanism for collectives of tribal women engaged in Tasar silk yarn production as a supplementary source of income in Jharkhand. more
• Labour on the move: The challenge of finance
  IFMR Trust is working with Aajeevika Bureau, a Rajasthan-based NGO, to devise useful financial products and services for migrant workers. Initial efforts in this direction have met with mixed success, indicating the complexity of the issue. more
• A new model of financial services completes a year
  Conceptualised by IFMR Trust, a new model of offering a range of financial services in remote, rural locations of India has completed one year of operation, in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. A report on the model, and the learning gained so far. more
• Promoting rural savings through MMMFs
  Pudhuaaru KGFS is promoting a mutual fund instrument that offers safety, ease of operation and the opportunity to earn returns better than interest earned on a bank savings account... more
• Clean drinking water model makes waves in AP villages
  Leveraging funding provided by IFMR Trust’s Drinking Water Network Enterprise, WaterHealth India has set up 220 low-cost water purification plants in villages between the districts of Hyderabad and Vijayawada. The plants provide clean drinking water at the rate of just INR 2 for 12 litres... more
• Novel approach to low-income housing
  Aarusha, a company mentored by IFMR Trust, provides affordable housing solutions to people who migrate from rural and semi-urban areas to cities, to work or study, and cannot afford to buy a house or even rent one... more
• Reaching out to the urban 'unbanked'
  CapStone Trust, an IFMR Trust investee company, aims to meet the finance requirements of self-employed and salaried individuals living in urban areas who have rarely, if ever, taken a formal loan... more
• Striving to make a difference in the job market
  Skills, Training and Research in Vocational Education Services (I) Pvt Ltd (STRiVE), an IFMR Trust investee company, seeks to train and place youth from rural areas and small towns at entry-level positions in business corporations, in India's highly competitive job market... more
• Learning by living with customers
  CEOs of KGFS companies live with rural families for a week, to gain firsthand insight into how they live, earn and spend their money... more
• Taking SHGs to markets
  Sandhi, a venture in which IFMR Trust has invested, is helping self-help production groups graduate to a market-based model... more
• Meet our rural relationship officers
  Relationship Officers are a critical spoke in the wheel of Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) operations... more
• Innovative, diverse training for KGFS staff
  To select and train KGFS Relationship Officers (ROs), IFMR Trust has partnered with an investee company... more
• KGFS CEOs well equipped and raring to go
  They are all men from an armed forces background, complemented by top-class management education... more