Image by Imam Fathoni on iStock   Today as I sit down to write this blog, I suddenly remember a conversation that I had this afternoon with a seasoned banker and investor from Singapore — Asia’s financial capital. It revolved around MSMEs and how Singapore is striving to achieve a balanced approach to fund them. I was… Continue reading MSMEs – “Atma-Nirbhar”: Resilience through self-sustenance

  In our previous blogs we had discussed how the nature of jobs is changing to Gigs and the problems India will face in the near future, if data ownership isn’t considered in designing the future platforms that takes into account all aspects of a gig worker’s well being. In our next blog, we delved… Continue reading Looking beyond the Gig Economy

Image by shaunl on iStock   COVID-19 has hit all the sectors of the rural economy. A recent analysis by Credit Suisse reveals that rural incomes were partly boosted through government fiscal support by their COVID response schemes. However, there has been a larger off-set of cash inflows resulting from a sharp drop in agricultural credit, lower remittances… Continue reading Multi-stakeholder perspective for agricultural insurance in India

Image by Pexels from Pixabay   Earlier this year, towards the end of January, the predominant mood in Chennai Trade Center complex was one of optimism. The 35th edition of India International Leather Fair was being held in the sprawling complex. The leather fair is not only an annual ritual for many business owners, it also highlights the… Continue reading Digital customer engagement for leather businesses

Photo by Uplift Mutuals   In this blog, we discuss emerging insights from our current study on mutuals in India and try to answer frequently- asked questions on mutuals.     Which are these organisations running mutual insurance? Till now, we have identified 21 mutual insurers in India, who meet our definition of a mutual… Continue reading Insuring Bharat: Q & A on Indian Mutuals

  Growing in the village of Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh, is wild Kiwi — a high value food product with an increasing demand. The State Horticulture Department introduced a domestic variety of the fruit 20 years ago, and it quickly gained popularity in the region. Tage Rita Takhe, a Ziro local, established her very own… Continue reading The Market Access Conundrum

Photo by PrathanChorruangsak on iStock   When we decided to work on understanding the role of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) in bringing about financial inclusion of the marginalised communities, we had made a very structured and detailed timeline for all the activities pretty much in line with a professional project management case. However, an unexpected delay stormed… Continue reading FPO Research: A Few Perspectives

By ARAVIND TEKI on Shutterstock   AC Equipment is a Pune-based manufacturing enterprise involved in supplying automotive parts to one of the bigger firms, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) based in the city. It has been in existence for over 2 years with an annual turnover of more than INR 150 lakhs. It has in-hand orders but is… Continue reading Credit and Tabula Rasa MSMEs

  It has been a year of transitions for workforces around the world. We have firstly gone remote, essentials only and socially distant. As the nature of work evolves, so do the skills required to adapt and survive in the new ecosystem.These transitions are not the result of Covid-19 alone. They have been in the… Continue reading Data Ownership & Gig Economy Knowledge Workers’ Perspectives

Photo by Matyas Rehak on Shutterstock   Insurance has an important role to play in agricultural risk management borne out of the ever-increasing instances of extreme weather events globally. However, its contribution to risk reduction and resilience depends upon the quality of the insurance tool; and whether it has been designed to respond efficiently to the needs… Continue reading Meso-level Index Insurance in Practice