The microfinance lending space witnessed an increase in its portfolio, rising by 30.9 per cent to Rs 4.02 lakh crore during the December quarter, according to a report by a credit information company. As compared to the previous September quarter, the overall portfolio showed a growth of 6 per cent.
The report highlighted by PTI shows that non-banking finance company-microfinance institutions (NBFCs-MFI) are still leading the pack in the sector, holding a sizable market share of 38.3 per cent. Banks come in next at 33.4 per cent, followed by small finance banks at 17.4 per cent, and NBFCs trailing at 9.4 per cent.
From an asset quality perspective, the loans that are not serviced for over 30 days were stable at 2 per cent, while the same for over 90 days was also stable at 0.9 per cent.
The average balance per borrower inched up to Rs 48,900 during the December quarter, as against Rs 48,200 in the quarter-ago period and Rs 46,900 in the year-ago period, the data said.
A bulk 83.4 per cent of the borrowers had exposure to less than 2 lenders in December, with Tamil Nadu having the highest prevalence of multiple borrowings per borrower, it said.
West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh witnessed the highest growth during the quarter when compared with the preceding quarter, but Bihar had the highest share in the gross loan portfolio, it said.
The top ten states constitute 83 per cent of the overall pie in the microlending industry, it said.
This comes at a time when the apex bank is already pulling hard on small ticket-size loans. Earlier this month, RBI Deputy Governor M. Rajeshwar Rao had also criticized microfinance institutions (MFIs) for imposing high interest rates on borrowers.
(With inputs from PTI)
