The Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Group has raised equity funding of Rs 13.5 crore ($2.15million) from a consortium of investors, including Acumen, AHI Capital Gateway, HDFC, HUDCO, Lok Capital and National Housing Bank for its housing finance company SEWA Grih Rin Ltd (SGR), the company said on Tuesday.
SGR has received license from National Housing Bank (NHB) and will commence operations soon.
SGR was incorporated in 2011 with a purpose to convert it into housing finance company (HFC). The company aims to provide funding to women working in informal sectors and fall in the income category of Rs 10,000-20,000. It would provide loans in the range of Rs 50,000-5 lakh for constructing private toilets, extra bedrooms or adding a store-front to generate additional income.
The SEWA Group has more than 10 social businesses. Three of these—the SEWA Bank through Stree Shakti Mahila Trust, Mahila Housing SEWA Trust (MHT), and SEWA Bharat, the National Federation of SEWA entities—are promoting SGR. SEWA currently has more than 2 million low-income women members in 13 Indian states.
“It’s more than just about shelter – it’s about bringing dignity and affecting real change through economic empowerment and access to basic services. SGR is pioneering efforts to provide affordable housing loans to low-income households across India,” said Ajit Mahadevan, country director, Acumen.
Acumen has invested over $6 million in several sustainable and scalable housing enterprises globally, including companies providing land rights, affordable housing and housing finance in India. Acumen has also invested $32 million in 27 companies in India that use market-based approaches to deliver critical products and services to millions of urban and rural poor.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
