Independent Research and Policy Advocacy

Publications

Blogs

We produce blogs to discuss new research findings, ongoing projects, and even personal reflections on the research process. Our blogs are written for a variety of audiences, including other researchers, policymakers, practitioners, financial service providers, grassroots organizations, impact investors and the public. The format is simple and easy to grasp. The language is straightforward, and the tone is non-academic. Our blogs can be of varying lengths. We choose to write a blog when we don’t want to do a full- fledged study or follow a rigorous research process. Blogs may contain opinions and they can also be based on experiences. Some of our blogs may just share some observations, learnings, or challenges.

Our Work

November 7, 2016 | Dvara Research

In the below infograph we highlight the recommendations from IFMR Finance Foundation’s latest research note “Modernisation of India’s Banking Sector”.

By Dvara Research
October 26, 2016 | Dvara Research

RBI recently released the operating guidelines for the Small Finance banks and Payments Banks on October 6, 2016. To take stock of these, we have put together a brief comparison of the regulatory requirements of these banks against those for universal banks.

By Madhu Srinivas
October 3, 2016 | Dvara Research

For the first time, the majority of Indian women have been financially included. Fresh data show that the proportion of Indian women with individual accounts in formal financial institutions (primarily banks) reached 61% in 2015, a sharp increase from 48% in 2014, lagging men by only eight percentage points.

By Bindu Ananth, Amy Jensen Mowl
September 30, 2016 | Dvara Research

Taking a significant step towards curbing illegal collection of deposits by unauthorized and illegal entities, RBI recently set up a website named 'Sachet' (Alert).

By Monami Dasgupta
September 26, 2016 | Dvara Research

Both financial inclusion and financial stability are high on international policy makers’ agenda. For instance, the G-20 has called for global commitments to both advancing financial inclusion (the Maya Declaration and the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion) and enhancing financial stability (the Financial Stability Board, Basel III Implementation, and other regulatory reforms).

By Dr. Martin Melecky
September 18, 2016 | Dvara Research

Why is malnutrition in India’s central belt, which includes the state of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, so high and so persistent despite relatively high rates of income growth?

By Dr. Anjini Kochar
September 1, 2016 | Dvara Research

In a recent report by Wharton Social Impact Initiative & Knowledge@Wharton on Innovative Finance and the various forms it has taken, the report highlights among others, the multi-originator securitization (MOSEC) transaction that was first pioneered by IFMR Capital.

By Dvara Research
August 17, 2016 | Dvara Research

There has been a strong national imperative to move towards a “cashless” economy in India[1]. Despite a substantive impetus from public and private sector forces, the adoption and use of digital modes of payment in the country remains paltry[

By Rachit Khaitan, Nishanth Kumar
August 10, 2016 | Dvara Research

I met today with the promoter and CEO of one of our newer Small Business Loan Originators and visited some of their end borrowers in Bombay.

By Dr. Kshama Fernandes
August 5, 2016 | Dvara Research

In this blog post we feature a conversation between Bama Balakrishnan, CRO, IFMR Capital and Kalpana Pandey, CEO & Managing Director, CRIF High Mark. CRIF High Mark is one of the four credit bureaus that operates in the country.

By Dvara Research