Microfinance and Small Business Financing in India

P.V. ViswanathSpring 2012

FIN 680VFIN 360

Course Focus

This course will look at microfinance and small business finance in India. Students will learn about the economics of microfinance, both the concepts and the practice of this revolutionary technique that has changed the life of many poor families in developing countries and which has earned its originator, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize.

Topics

General Introduction– India – History and Culture– India – Economy

Financial Infrastructure– Banking System– Financial Markets– Non-banking finance companies

Topics

Microfinance– Limits of free financial markets – Group Lending and other techniques– Savings and Insurance as part of microfinance– Gender and Microfinance– Regulation of Microfinance

Microfinance Visits

One day seminar on microfinance in India at the Inst for Fin Mgmt and Research (IFMR) ChennaiKshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS), a microfinance unit in Thanjavur district. Our group will be part of a hands-on two-day internship program.Video of KGFS, Puduaaru

Small Enterprises and Education

Small businesses in Auroville, an global village that is connected with the Aurobindo Ashram Small businesses in Pondicherry Small/medium enterprises in ChennaiGreat Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM), an educational institution with a global mindset and local roots. Unique in requiring all students to study Chinese language and culture.

Culture: Kancheepuram

Kancheepuram, dates from the 7th century with beautiful temples and a flourishing textile industry

Culture: Thanjavur

Thanjavur, capital of the Chola kingdom in the 10th and 11th centuriesRice-bowl of India

Culture: Chennai

originated in Fort St. George, a British settlement in the 17th century

Culture: Pondicherry

Pondicherry – one of the last French colonies in India, being transferred to India only in 1954

Culture: Auroville

Auroville, a model of group living and sustainability

Course Structure

We will have online discussions based on texts throughout the term.In addition, we will have five in-class meetings:– February 2– February 9– February 23– March 1– March 29 – post trip debriefing and graduate student presentations

Course Requirements

Participation in Online DiscussionsReport on a topic of choice (to be selected in consultation with instructor) and powerpoint presentation (for graduate students only)Brief write-up (about two pages) on the trip as a whole plus more focused descriptions of two specific visits, not in the same industry/area (two pages per visit).

Summary

This travel course promises to be unique in many ways – – in covering an exciting area of modern finance, – in visiting a rural Indian locale to see the application of

these financial ideas directly, – in allowing students to participate personally in some

of these ventures and – in introducing students to a historic part of south India

that is not visited by many travellers to India.