BANDHAN

  • Location:  Kolkata, West Bengal, India
  • Started microfinance operations:  July 2002
  • Unitus Partnership Start Date:  April 2005
  • Clients when partnership began:  51,621
  • Current clients served:  1,929,636


Website: www.bandhanmf.com

Background: Bandhan–meaning “togetherness”– offers microfinance services to poor women in India’s state of West Bengal. Founded by Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh in November 2000, Bandhan literally helps its clients work their way out of poverty.


C.S. Ghosh - Bandhan
Leadership: Bandhan is led by Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, CEO and Founder.

With Unitus’s assistance, we are excited to pursue our aggressive growth targets. Together we will be able to scale to new heights!


Product offerings and clientele: Bandhan offers microcredit loans to self-employed women living in both rural and urban areas of West Bengal. Their average client earns less than $46 a month and holds less than half an acre of land.

Highlights and growth strategy: Unitus was immediately attracted to Bandhan’s impressive track record, strong leadership, and bold goals–all apparent during our on-site due diligence. Bandhan is India’s flagship microfinance institution (MFI) for ASA Bangladesh’s lending methodology, commonly referred to as an individual lending methodology. These highly standardized loan products enable rapid expansion, and Bandhan’s borrowers exhibit near-perfect repayment rates. In 2005 alone, Bandhan grew by more than 300 percent. In December 2004, Bandhan had 32,228 clients and grew to more than 130,000 clients by the end of 2005–more than 40 times the average size for mature MFIs. Bandhan plans to continue its growth and also develop networks with other MFIs in India in order to inform government officials on issues relevant to the sector.

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