Mumbai, September 17, 2025: Sa-Dhan, an association of Impact finance institutions and an SRO for microfinance institutions, and Punjab & Sind Bank, a leading Public Sector Bank in the country, have joined hands to support direct and indirect credit access to the poor and vulnerable sections of society through Microfinance institutions. With this view, an MOU was signed by Shri Jiji Mammen, Executive Director and Shri Rajendra Kumar Raigar, GM of Punjab and Sind Bank India, at the Bank’s Corporate Office on 11 September 2025.
Shri Swarup Kumar Saha, MD & CEO of Punjab & Sind Bank, extended his compliments to Punjab & Sind Bank and Sa-Dhan for this historic step, and said that “the association between Sa-Dhan and Punjab & Sind Bank is a win -win for all and through this association the Punjab and Sindh Bank could increase its reach to deeper geographies and help in extending funding to small and women enterprises, being promoted under the Lakhpati Didi programme of the GOI. Further, it will help achieve the National Financial Inclusion goals of the government and expand the financial footprint across small and women-led enterprises”
The MoU will be a non-commercial arrangement and include key areas of collaboration such as Enterprise Finance for SHGs and Non-SHG Members, enabling Co-lending with MFIs, supporting Climate–Resilient Technologies and Green Financing, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Financing, Digital Transformation and Adoption of Technologies and most importantly, Financial Literacy and Awareness about Government Schemes.
Under the Enterprise Finance framework, the MoU aims to strengthen financial access for Lakhpati Didis and self-help groups (SHGs), enabling them to scale women-led micro and small businesses. Special emphasis will be placed on promoting green financing through co-lending models and term loans to support SHGs in adopting solar irrigation, energy-efficient equipment, and sustainable agricultural business practices. The partnership will also extend financial support to SHGs engaged in sanitation, toilet construction, water filtration, and waste management enterprises, thereby empowering rural and semi-urban women to build resilient and sustainable livelihoods. This MoU will further pave the way for collaborating with microfinance institutions to provide affordable and flexible financing access to underserved communities and expand the reach of microloans for women entrepreneurs.
Shri Jiji Mammen said that “Sa-Dhan will facilitate the identification of individual entrepreneurs requiring enterprise financing both from SHGs and outside SHGs. Under the GOI programme for Women’s enterprise development from SHGs, it is already working with NRLM and select SRLMS by conducting capacity-building programmes for Vitta Sakhis, SHG members, and rural entrepreneurs, and helping to link them with banks. The new arrangement with Punjab and Sind Bank will help to enhance this process”.
ShriRaigar, the General Manager in charge of the priority sector, expresses his happiness for this new association with Sa-Dhan and hopes that both organisations can make a difference in the lives of poor people, especially those from rural areas. He said that the Punjab and Sindh Bank, under its current management, has been taking several proactive steps to support the poor by tweaking its policies.
About Sa-Dhan:
Sa-Dhan is the first and largest association of community development finance institutions in India, formed to support and strengthen the agenda of fostering Inclusive Impact Finance in India. It aims to foster a deeper understanding of the microfinance sector among policymakers, funders, banks, governments, researchers, and practitioners. Sa-Dhan has about 220 members working in 33 states/UTs and over 646 districts, which include both for-profit and not-for-profit MFIs, SHG-promoting institutions, banks, rating agencies, capacity-building institutions, etc. Sa-Dhan’s members with diverse legal forms and operating models reach out to approximately 63 million clients with outstanding loans of more than ₹2,27,410 crores. Sa-Dhan is also recognised as a National Support Organisation (NSO) by the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
