ICICI Bank is planning to expand the reach of its Self-Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) in Tamil Nadu to cover over 25 lakh women beneficiaries by the end of 2019-20 with cumulative loan disbursements worth more than ₹ 7,000 crore.
The private lender has announced that it has crossed a milestone of supporting 17 lakh women beneficiaries in Tamil Nadu through the ‘Self- Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme’.
The programme primarily aims at empowering less-privileged women in the state to become self-reliant. The programme focuses on delivering financial and services to the section of rural people who lack access to formal banking. As part of the programme, the bank has extended loans nearly worth ₹ 4,300 crore to over 1.3 lakh SHGs since its inception in 2011.
“ The bank is a pioneer in introducing door-step banking to SHGs, wherein our officials reach out to customers at their door-step, instead of the customer approaching the bank’s branches. This reduces the transaction cost for the customer, as she does not have to incur any cost in travelling to the nearest branch of the bank,” Avijit Saha, senior general manager and head of rural & inclusive banking group at ICICI Bank, said in a statement.
ICICI Bank, he said, would focus on SHGs whose members were engaged in livelihood-generating activities - be it on the farm or off the farm – and thereby provide financial assistance in scaling up their economic enterprises.
