Manna for the masses – The demand for small loans from the country’s urban and rural poor is estimated at Rs 45,000 crore.

Why then hasn’t micro-financing taken off?

Ms Nilekani has funded, Sanghamitra, which is a micro-financial institution that’s targeted at the urban poor. If you’re still wondering what such an institution does, well it’s actually pretty simple; It offers loans to the poor at decent rates.