Janalakshmi Debt 2 (IFC-37256)

Regions
  • South Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • India
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
FI
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jan 26, 2017
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Janalakshmi Financial Services Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 48.63 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Aug 11, 2018

Disclosed by Bank Jun 2, 2016

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The proposed project envisages a senior debt investment in Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited (“Janalakshmi” or the “Company”) which is a leading, urban focused microfinance institution (“MFI”) headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka with a borrower base of more than 4.6 million borrowers and a loan portfolio of approximately INR91 billion (US$1,380 million equivalent) as of March 2016.

Janalakshmi was founded in 2006 as a not-for profit initiative by Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan and is amongst the largest MFIs in the country. Janalakshmi became an NBFC in 2008 and was amongst the first NBFCs to be awarded the NBFC-MFI classification in September 2013. Janalakshmi is one of the 10 recipients of the Small Finance Bank License (“SFB”) awarded by the Reserve Bank of India in mid-September 2015. IFC’s proposed investment will help the company expand the outreach of access to low income borrowers who have little or no access to formal sources of financing.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

J Janalakshmi was incorporated in July 2006 and took over micro finance business from Jana Urban Foundation (then known as Janalakhmi Social Service) with effect from April 1, 2008 on receipt of NBFC license from the RBI. Promoter of Janalakshmi, Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan, is a former Managing Director & European Head of Corporate Derivatives of Citibank and holds a post graduate degree from BITS, Pilani and a MBA from Yale. He is a member of the Planning Commission of India’s committee on identification of urban below the poverty line families, and a member of the Government of India’s expert committee on urban infrastructure finance. He has also been included as a member of the RBI’s financial inclusion committee.

Apart from the Jana Urban Foundation (sponsor entity), other key shareholders include TPG Capital, Citigroup Venture Capital, North Haven Pvt. Equity Asia Platinum Pte Ltd., Alpha TC Hoding Pte Ltd., Treeline, India Financial Inclusion Fund, TRG, and Havells enterprise.

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Jana Small Finance Bank (Janalakshmi Financial Services Limited)  is a leading, urban focused microfinance institution headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka with a borrower base of more than 4.6 million borrowers and a loan portfolio of approximately INR91 billion (US$1,380 million equivalent) as of March 2016.

Janalakshmi was incorporated in July 2006 and took over micro finance business from Jana Urban Foundation (then known as Janalakhmi Social Service) with effect from April 1, 2008 on receipt of NBFC license from the RBI. Promoter of Janalakshmi, Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan, is a former Managing Director & European Head of Corporate Derivatives of Citibank and holds a post graduate degree from BITS, Pilani and a MBA from Yale.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Project Contact: Mr. Jayasheel Bhansali
Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited
Office Address: Rajashree Saroja Plaza, No 34/1, Andree Road, Shanthinagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India – 560027

Email Address:jayasheel.bhansali@janalakshmi.com
Website: http://www.janalakshmi.com

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org. You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/

How it works

How it works