MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Karnataka State Government Launches Mysore City Street Vendors Multipurpose Cooperative Society to Provide Loans to Indian Street Vendors

The government of the Indian state Karnataka recently launched the Mysore City Street Vendors Multipurpose Cooperative Society to provide microloans to street vendors unable to qualify for traditional bank loans. The society, which has seed money of INR 50 million (USD 909,000), is reportedly intended to develop into a cooperative bank in the future, with 50 percent of its profits going toward providing health insurance for society members. S. Suresh Kumar, Minister for Urban Development of Karnataka, reportedly said, “We are aiming to curb exploitation of street vendors by money lenders who charge exorbitant rate of interest given that small vendors don’t stand a chance to get loan[s] from the banks.” Details on the terms of the loans to be provided have not yet been released.

By Nicole Boyd, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources:

The Times of India. “Karnataka’s first micro credit society for street vendors launched in Mysore,” http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-15/mysore/37743570_1_street-vendors-roadside-vendors-money-lenders

MicroCapital. March 24, 2013, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank Reaches $1m of Solar Power Products Financed in India,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-karnataka-vikas-grameena-bank-reaches-1m-of-solar-power-products-financed-in-india/

MicroCapital. September 7, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Association of Karnataka Microfinance Institutions Releases Client Survey Data from ‘Competition and the Role of External Agents: The 2009 Delinquency Crisis in Southern Karnataka’ by CGAP, EDA Rural Systems,”
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-association-of-karnataka-microfinance-institutions-releases-client-survey-data-from-“competition-and-the-role-of-external-agents-the-2009-delinquency-crisis-in-southern-ka/

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