Village Financial Services Private Limited (VFS), a microfinance institution (MFI) in eastern India, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), a consumer goods company based in Mumbai, India, to improve access to safe drinking water. The partnership will enable poor households to take a loan at a zero rate of interest to buy HUL’s Pureit water purifiers. The loan may be repayed weekly over a period of eight months. The cost of the purifiers has not been released. HUL is an affiliate of the Unilever conglomerate based in London, England, with EUR 39.8 billion (USD 51.3 billion) in total revenue in 2009.

According to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Market, as of 2008, VFS had USD 9.4 million in total assets, a gross loan portfolio of USD 6.6 million, and 77,000 active borrowers with an average loan balance of USD 85.3 per borrower.

By Conner Brannen, Research Assistant

Sources and Additional Resources:

Business Line: “Tie-up for safe drinking water,” July 20, 2010: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/07/21/stories/2010072152471900.htm

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Sahulat Microfinance Society Will Establish Interest-Free Cooperatives in India, July 22, 2010: http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-sahulat-microfinance-society-will-establish-interest-free-cooperatives-in-india/

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Executes $407m in Loans for Microfinance Initiatives in India, July 14, 2010: http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-world-bank-executes-407m-in-loans-for-microfinance-initiatives-in-india/

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki http://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/