Exclusive: This Junior Birla’s packing in a Big Punch, meet Ananya Birla

Ananya Birla, daughter of Kumar Mangalam Birla. Boom! You’re already thinking of a spoilt rich brat born with a golden spoon. You can’t be more wrong.

Miss Birla ain’t that in any way humanly possible. This Oxford-educated 21 year old has actually stridden into the world of micro-finance with Svatantra Microfin, her own enterprise that aims to empower women in the under-served rural areas of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Her Mumbai-based startup was officially launched on March 1, 2013, and offers micro loans at one of the lowest interest rates in the industry. Livelihood related loans are offered at 22%, while the standard interest rates are 25-26%.

How do rural women reach you?
They have phones, and we have hoardings all over rural India.

They can call, or come into one of our branches at any time. Our officers are also constantly on the lookout.

Can women pay back the loan amount?
We’ve got 100% repayment rates. It all boils down to the organization.

It’s more about whether we’re lending to the right people than what they’re doing wrong. The onus is on us, and not on them. We only lend to people who can handle these loans and have running businesses. We also do loan utilization checks on a regular basis.

Don’t people object to constant checks?
Quite contrary to the stereotype, they’re very open-minded. They never object to any checks at all. They’re actually grateful to have got that loan.

The other substitute really is money-lenders who give out loans at 100-200% interest rates.

How big is the challenge to go cashless in a majorly cash-driven economy?
The entire idea of an entrepreneur is to drive change. If you challenge a system, it’ll take time, and you cannot give up.

There was a li’l bit of a hiccup, and in less than a month people realized the benefits, and now we’re completely cashless.

We’re actually moving towards cashless collections as well. It’s the way forward.

Most common problem for Rural Women
Children’s education is a huge issue that pops up every time I talk to them.

They’re very keen to educate their children. I haven’t seen so much of ‘my husband doesn’t give me money’ and all of that.

Getting educational loans is a big challenge for the rural crowd. They want to send their kids to under-grad and post-grad colleges, but don’t have the money for that.

How do you see the ‘Birla’ tag?
I take that in a positive manner. It’s very important to stay grounded, understand your values and ethics, and use the money you’ve got in the right manner.

This is my first venture. I’m coming up with an e-commerce venture very soon.