March 2023: India’s largest microfinance institution CreditAccess Grameen Limited (CA Grameen) features in the top 5 of the latest Fortune India Next 500 companies. CA Grameen with FY2022 revenue of INR 2,750.13 crore stood 4th among the corporates from various industries.
The Fortune India Next 500 states the status of the top 500 midsize corporations in India compiled, based on the latest gross revenue figures. The current list is based on the annual audited total income for the financial year 2021-22.
CA Grameen is the only Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) to be featured in the top 5 list drawn by the Indian edition of Fortune magazine. The company’s prudent lending practices and business efficiency built has helped to reach out to customers across the hinterlands. This is visible from the fact that CA Grameen is the only lender to 43% of its customer base and the only second lender to 39% of its customers.
The institution managed to scale the business with social relevance and stayed commercially sustainable resulting in a robust performance. The customer base has grown more than ten-fold from 3.2 lakh to 39.4 lakh while maintaining the position as one of the lowest-priced lenders for its customers.
The company is closely aligned with the goal of deepening financial inclusion by offering customised doorstep products and services through cutting-edge technologies. Given CA Grameen’s recruiting policy of hiring freshers from the local community and providing extensive training, it is creating employment opportunities thus building massive infrastructure at the last mile. Its employee base stood at 16,807 at the end of December 2022.
CA Grameen aims to grow at a CAGR of 20-25% over the next 4-5 years while maintaining pristine asset quality. The company is running pilots in secured lending segments like gold loans, two-wheelers and mortgages. On the non-credit side, it is piloting innovative payments, saving and investment products which is a true testament to the microfinance model going beyond the traditional credit delivery mechanism.
