The microfinance sector’s gross loan portfolio (GLP) or portfolio outstanding as of March 31, 2024, increased by 24.5 per cent to Rs 4.33 lakh crore from Rs 3.48 lakh crore as of March 31, 2023, said Microfinance Industry Network (MFIN), the industry association for NBFC-MFIs (non-banking financial companies – microfinance institutions) in India on Monday.
The sector served 7.8 crore unique borrowers through 14.9 crore loan accounts. NBFC-MFIs had the largest share in loan amount outstanding of Rs 1.7 lakh crore, accounting for 39.4 per cent of the total industry portfolio followed by banks with total loan outstanding of Rs 1.4 lakh crore, 33.2 per cent of total micro credit.
Small finance banks (SFBs) had a total loan amount outstanding of Rs 74,278 crore with a share of 17.1 per cent while NBFCs accounted for 9.3 per cent and other MFIs had 0.9 per cent. According to MFIN, microfinance active loan accounts jumped by 15.4 per cent as of March 31, 2024, from 13 crores as of March 31, 2023.
“Consistent growth of microfinance sector continued for this year as well. The portfolio of sector grew by 25.4 per cent on YoY basis. Banks which reported sluggish growth of 4.5% in portfolio last year have reported a much healthier growth of 20.9% this year. NBFC-MFIs on the other hand reported a relatively lower growth of 23.6% in portfolio this year as compared to 37.7% last year,” said Alok Misra – CEO & Director, MFIN.
In terms of portfolio quality, the portfolio delinquent by 31 to 180 days past due (DPD) improved for banks and NBFCs. PAR (portfolio at risk) 31-180 DPD for banks improved from 2.7 per cent as of March 31 last year to 2.2 per cent as of March 31, 2024 and for NBFCs, it improved from 0.9 per cent to 0.4 per cent.
In contrast, PAR 31-180 DPDs for NBFC-MFIs deteriorated from 1.5 per cent as of March 31, 2023 to 2 per cent as of March 31, 2024. For SFBs too, it deteriorated from 2.2 per cent to 2.9 per cent.
