Independent Research and Policy Advocacy

Policy Initiatives

Household Finance

Dvara Research’s Household Finance Research initiative aims to rigorously understand the financial choices and decisions of low-income or excluded individuals and households, and their relation to achieving households’ objectives. It has been our consistent endeavour to study financial inclusion as a gateway to a suite of appropriate financial services eventually enabling well-rounded household balance sheets and consumer financial well-being.

Misha Sharma Dvara

Misha Sharma

Head - Household Finance

Priyadarshini Ganesan Dvara

Priyadarshini Ganesan

Senior Research Associate

Our Work

May 22, 2013 | Dvara Research

The Technical Group on Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy proposes to carry out a nationwide survey to assess the ‘state of financial inclusion and financial literacy’ in India. Prior to commissioning this large-scale effort, it would be important to look into the design aspects of such a survey, including: (I)Coordinating with existing large-sample surveys on financial inclusion

By Financial Systems Design
April 26, 2013 | Forbes India

A few colleagues and I recently travelled through Varanasi and Mirzapur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh visiting Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) in that region and their clients. I am delighted to report that this region, one of the poorest in India, is a hotbed of innovations.

April 26, 2013 | Dvara Research

This post is cross-posted from our Financing Small Cities blog. The post marks the beginning of a new blog series “Cities in Books", in which we will put across posts that reflect on how cities are portrayed in books and relate them from an urbanisation perspective.

By Anand Sahasranaman
April 16, 2013 | Dvara Research

Central to the debate on access to finance for India, is the question of the most appropriate channel for credit delivery. Credit intermediation has traditionally been the stronghold of banks, driven by policy mandates and regulatory backing.

By Deepti George, Anand Sahasranaman
April 12, 2013 | Dvara Research

Why does consumer protection assume so much more significance in financial services, more so than perhaps for other services? Financial services don’t have fixed characteristics.

By Anand Sahasranaman
April 8, 2013 | Dvara Research

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) was set up by the Indian Government in 2011 with a mandate to help rewrite and harmonize financial sector legislation, rules and regulations. On March 22nd 2013 it released its final report and the draft law.

By Anand Sahasranaman
March 30, 2013 | Dvara Research

The revenue share between state governments and ULBs is determined by the State Finance Commissions (SFCs) which are set up by state governments every 5 years. In essence, the mandate of the SFC is to determine:

By Anand Sahasranaman
March 22, 2013 | Dvara Research

The book is an edited compilation of articles that focus on using financial engineering a multidisciplinary field that uses technical methods from the fields of finance, mathematics and

By Dvara Research
March 19, 2013 | Forbes India

What does the asset allocation look like for people living in remote rural India (villages with less than 5000 population)?

March 2, 2013 | Forbes India

What will it take to make payments universal in India with a ratio closer to one point for every 100 citizens and importantly, who will pay for creating this infrastructure?