Ujjivan disbursed its first loan in Mumbai on 3rd November, 2009. Ujjivan has three branches in Mumbai (Navi Mumbai, Chembur, Govandi-Mankhurd) and a branch in Thane.
Plans to roll out 30+ branches in Mumbai
Initiative to enhance penetration of microfinance in Mumbai at the grass root level
Initiative launched by Mr. Samit Ghosh, founder and CEO of Ujjivan.
Mumbai's business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract people migrating into it in the quest to fulfill their dreams from all across India. The city proper is the second-most-populous city in the world, with approximately 19 million inhabitants.
But the harsh truth about Mumbai is with over 54% of its population living on the edge of urban poverty; it suffers from the same major urbanization problems seen in many fast growing cities in developing countries: widespread poverty and unemployment, poor public health and poor civic and educational standards for a large section of the population. The visible economic disparity in the city is a direct result of the years of neglect of the people at the bottom of the pyramid people by the banking system in the country. The reason for this neglect is often cited by financial pundits to be the myth that the “urban poor with no major collateral is unbankable”.
Ujjivan, one of the pioneers of urban microfinance in India, started operations in Mumbai from 26th of September 2009, to cater to the urban poor of tinsel town. Ujjivan plans to open a network of over 30 branches in Mumbai over the next 2 years.
Mr. Samit Ghosh while sharing his thoughts about launch of operations in Mumbai stated “Our vision is to provide access to finance at the grass root level in the slums of Mumbai. This initiative is in line with Ujjivan’s commitment to play a serious role in bringing value to the lives of the underprivileged in urban India”.
Ujjivan started its Western region operation in January 2009, with 3 branches in Pune. Ujjivan has successfully extended financial services to over 17,000 urban poor in the West through its 13 branch network and has also recently started operations in Nashik.
