After receiving the final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Janalakshmi Financial Services is all set to launch its Small Finance Bank. The Microfinance Institution (MFI) has received ‘commencement of business’ certificate from the central bank.
According to the sources, the bank will be launched within a week and will be named as Jana Small Finance Bank.
The MFI will be the last among the 10 applicants that were approved by RBI to set up a Small Finance Bank in 2015.RBI issued approvals for small finance banks and payments banks to introduce differentiated banking concept for the small and regional borrowers.
Despite receiving the approval from the regulator the MFI waited for nearly one year due to the high percentage of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), said sources.
As quoted by media reports, Janalakshmi raised around Rs 600-700 crore from a group of new investors, including HarbourVest in January this year. Harbourvest made an investment of Rs 250-260 crore (approximately USD 40 million).
