Utkarsh Plans To Offer Full Banking Services

The Commonwealth Development Corporation supported Utkarsh Micro Finance has just transitioned itself to a small finance bank. Govind Singh, MD and CEO of the bank, outlines the proposed activities of the bank

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N. Mohan: Can you briefly outline the genesis of Utkarsh Micro Finance and how it managed the transformation as a small finance bank?

Govind Singh: As you know, Utkarsh Micro Finance is a Non-Banking Financial Company - Micro Finance Institution registered with the Reserve Bank of India. Headquartered at Varanasi, it started operations way back in September 2009 to provide financial and non-financial services in its area of operations to the unbanked and underserved population who have the skill but are in need of capital. Initially, it started with credit facility under joint liability group (JLG) model. Today, the company also has Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Loans and Housing Loans products in its bouquet. Currently, it has 344 microfinance, 18 assets, 7 micro banking and 15 general banking branches in 110 districts spanning 10 states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi-NCR, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

From the very first year, we were focused on putting strong support and control structure in place. Even the very 1st loan was audited internally. We believe in imbibing three pillars of a sustainable institution - Culture, Process and Growth. We had KPMG as our statutory auditor and had set up Responsible Finance (risk management) department in the first year of operations.

Our focused approach on quality rather than just quantity has helped us earn regular industry recognitions like the Mix S.T.A.R Award (Socially Transparent and Responsible) and Client Protection Certificate from Smart Campaign.