The goal is to turn SHG members into entrepreneurs, IFC’s Roshika Singh

As IFC makes its first-ever investment in an Indian public sector bank, its partnership with State Bank of India reflects a shift in financial inclusion and local-currency funding in India. In an interview with businessline, Roshika Singh, Principal Country Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC), explains why SBI was chosen as the institution’s first PSU banking partner, how the $150 million social loan will support rural women, and why local-currency financing is becoming increasingly important for India’s growth story. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/stocks/state-bank-of-india/ Here is the edited excerpts of her interview with businessline: Why has IFC chosen SBI as its first public sector banking partner in India, and what outcomes do you expect from this relationship? This is IFC’s first investment in an Indian public sector bank, and we chose SBI because of its unmatched reach in rural India and its strong presence in the Self-Help Group (SHG) ecosystem. The partnership combines a $150 million social loan to expand credit access for rural women with a landmark swap arrangement that strengthens local-currency financing. Our partnership combines two key objectives: a $150 million social loan to expand access to finance for women engaged in agriculture and rural enterprises, and a swap arrangement that makes SBI IFC’s first domestic swap counterparty in India and South Asia. We expect this collaboration to help women grow their businesses, increase incomes, create jobs, and gradually transition from group-based lending to individual enterprise finance. The social loan aims to benefit more than 864,000 rural women. How will IFC measure success over the next few years? We expect to reach around 864,000 rural women across agricultural value chains and will closely track lending through SHGs and SBI’s Svayam Siddha Scheme. Success will be measured by greater access to formal credit, more women graduating to individual enterprise loans, stronger women-led businesses, and wider adoption of similar products across the banking sector. SBI has become IFC’s first domestic swap counterparty in India. How does this strengthen IFC’s local-currency financing strategy? Demand for local-currency financing has been rising steadily as it helps reduce foreign-exchange risk for borrowers. Over the past three years, IFC has funded approximately ₹30,040 crore through the dollar-rupee cross-currency swap market, making it increasingly important to diversify our funding sources. The swap agreement with SBI deepens India’s local-currency financing ecosystem and provides IFC with an additional avenue to raise long-term rupee funding. This is particularly valuable for sectors such as infrastructure, agribusiness and financial services, where long-term capital is critical. By mobilising more rupee-denominated financing, we can provide businesses with greater funding certainty while attracting more private capital into productive sectors of the economy. Why are rural women in agriculture a key priority for IFC, and where do you still see financing gaps? While India has made significant progress in financial inclusion, many rural women still face barriers to accessing formal credit. A key challenge is helping women move from group lending to individual enterprise finance. Through this partnership, we aim to expand access to both, enabling more women to grow businesses, increase incomes and participate more actively in the economy. Through this partnership, we seek to address that gap by expanding access to both SHG financing and individual micro-enterprise loans. In doing so, we hope to foster stronger entrepreneurship, higher incomes and greater participation of women in economic activity. Given concerns around credit quality in parts of the SHG ecosystem, why does IFC remain confident in the SHG model? SHGs remain one of the most effective channels for women’s financial inclusion, helping millions gain access to formal credit through a well-established framework supported by the Reserve Bank of India and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. Safeguards such as savings-linked lending, community monitoring, financial literacy programmes and structured repayment systems help strengthen the model. Through this partnership, we aim not only to expand SHG lending but also to help women graduate to individual enterprise loans, creating a pathway from financial inclusion to entrepreneurship and sustainable business growth. Why has IFC chosen SBI as its first public sector banking partner in India, and what outcomes do you expect from this relationship? This is IFC’s first investment in an Indian public sector bank, and we chose SBI because of its unmatched reach in rural India and its strong presence in the Self-Help Group (SHG) ecosystem. The partnership combines a $150 million social loan to expand credit access for rural women with a landmark swap arrangement that strengthens local-currency financing. Our partnership combines two key objectives: a $150 million social loan to expand access to finance for women engaged in agriculture and rural enterprises, and a swap arrangement that makes SBI IFC’s first domestic swap counterparty in India and South Asia. We expect this collaboration to help women grow their businesses, increase incomes, create jobs, and gradually transition from group-based lending to individual enterprise finance. The social loan aims to benefit more than 864,000 rural women. How will IFC measure success over the next few years? We expect to reach around 864,000 rural women across agricultural value chains and will closely track lending through SHGs and SBI’s Svayam Siddha Scheme. Success will be measured by greater access to formal credit, more women graduating to individual enterprise loans, stronger women-led businesses, and wider adoption of similar products across the banking sector. SBI has become IFC’s first domestic swap counterparty in India. How does this strengthen IFC’s local-currency financing strategy? Demand for local-currency financing has been rising steadily as it helps reduce foreign-exchange risk for borrowers. Over the past three years, IFC has funded approximately ₹30,040 crore through the dollar-rupee cross-currency swap market, making it increasingly important to diversify our funding sources. The swap agreement with SBI deepens India’s local-currency financing ecosystem and provides IFC with an additional avenue to raise long-term rupee funding. This is particularly valuable for sectors such as infrastructure, agribusiness and financial services, where long-term capital is critical. By mobilising more rupee-denominated financing, we can provide businesses with greater funding certainty while attracting more private capital into productive sectors of the economy. Why are rural women in agriculture a key priority for IFC, and where do you still see financing gaps? While India has made significant progress in financial inclusion, many rural women still face barriers to accessing formal credit. A key challenge is helping women move from group lending to individual enterprise finance. Through this partnership, we aim to expand access to both, enabling more women to grow businesses, increase incomes and participate more actively in the economy. Through this partnership, we seek to address that gap by expanding access to both SHG financing and individual micro-enterprise loans. In doing so, we hope to foster stronger entrepreneurship, higher incomes and greater participation of women in economic activity. Given concerns around credit quality in parts of the SHG ecosystem, why does IFC remain confident in the SHG model? SHGs remain one of the most effective channels for women’s financial inclusion, helping millions gain access to formal credit through a well-established framework supported by the Reserve Bank of India and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. Safeguards such as savings-linked lending, community monitoring, financial literacy programmes and structured repayment systems help strengthen the model. Through this partnership, we aim not only to expand SHG lending but also to help women graduate to individual enterprise loans, creating a pathway from financial inclusion to entrepreneurship and sustainable business growth.