Acuité Research launched a special research publication on Indian Microfinance titled "Micro Finance in India – Macro Positive” on Sep 26, 2023. This is the first time that Acuité has published a priced report for the market.

The virtual event was graced by distinguished speakers who have seen the sector grow over the last two decades from close quarters.

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, senior business journalist and the best selling author of several books on the Indian financial sector, was present in our Kanjurmarg office during the launch and unveiled the report.

We also had the privilege of hearing Dr Alok Misra, CEO of Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), the larger of the two Self Regulatory Organisations (SROs) in the sector and Mr. Manoj Nambiar, MD & CEO of Arohan Financial Services Ltd, a fairly large microfinance company based in Eastern India. The event started with a presentation by Suman Chowdhury, our Chief Economist and Head – Research who shared some important takeaways from the report. The audience which comprised around 120 participants from the microfinance sector apart from many bankers and investors, were immensely benefitted from the deliberations. Meanwhile, there have been several enquiries on our report since launch and some of them have already translated into sales. Wishing the very best to our Business Development team on this maiden endeavour!

We also thank all the participants for making the webinar a huge success. In case you missed a part of the proceedings, the recording of the webinar can be accessed here:

Bringing together diverse perspectives from sectoral experts and interesting insights from leaders in the Indian Microfinance Industry, this webinar provided insights on:

- The impact of the pandemic on the MFI sector

- How MFIs are addressing the challenge of delinquencies

- Readiness of the MFI players to future-proof their businesses

- The changing landscape in the sector

- The growth trajectory for the sector in the short to medium-term

We also thank all the participants for making the webinar a huge success. In case you missed a part of the proceedings, the recording of the webinar can be accessed here:

Our Executive Director & Chief Analytical Officer (CAO),Suman Chowdhurywas the distinguished speaker in a symposium on "Financing India’s Sustainable Growth – Challenges & The Way Forward” organised by the School of Business, Mody University. The other speakers included ShriRohit P Das, Regional Director, RBI and Ms Shilpa Gulrajani, Head – Corporate Development & Sustainability, Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas. The event also included a panel discussion with other eminent participants and moderated by Rakesh Bhutoria, Ex MD- Standard Chartered Bank. Acuité Says Suman Chowdhury "It was really an enriching experience to attend the event in the idyllic campus of Mody University, Sikar-Rajasthan, interact with the students and share our perspectives on ESG in India and the emerging trends in sustainable finance.” The key takeaways from his session, that of other speakers and the panel discussion are as follows:

• #Sustainability is not only about adoption of non-fossil energy sources and reduction of carbon emissions; it is about a way of living and conducting ourselves in a corporate environment that is more mindful about social communities and high standards of governance (E+S+G).
• To attain the ambitious goals announced by India in the Paris accord and in the subsequent COPs, the annual sustainable finance requirement is estimated to be of the order of USD 170 bn; green finance so far in India has been a fraction of these requirements. Clearly, a paradigm shift in green finance is required for us including active support from the developed nations.
• While the green bond market is still nascent in India with cumulative issuance at USD 20 bn including social and sustainability bonds mostly in foreign currency, the decision by the Government to raise Sovereign Green Bonds (#SGBs) from FY23 in INR and putting an issuance framework in place will give a boost to such funding efforts.

To view the whole event, please visit the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6DLapTYTe0

Our Chief Analytical Officer, Suman Chowdhury spoke at the webinar organised by Sa-dhan, one of the SROs in the microfinance sector, titled "Addressing Risk with Growth in business in the Microfinance Sector".

The webinar which was attended by Mr Jiji Mammen, Executive Director, Sa-Dhan, Shri U.S. Paliwal, Former ED, RBI witnessed extensive deliberations on some pertinent issues facing the microfinance sector in India.

These included geographically concentrated exposure, the need for capital, RBI regulations, policy framework, technology, asset quality and reporting, amongst others.

We also deliberated on the ways to mitigate these risks through strong operational processes supported by technology.

Please refer to the below link further details:
https://bit.ly/3SmysDZ

August 3, 2022 evening witnessed a congregation of eminent speakers from a diverse universe of the regulatory body, fintech players, banks and private equity space at Finnovate - The emerging fintech landscape webinar. It received a fabulous response with a large number of participants from a diverse universe of private sector NBFCs, private sector and PSU banks, government bodies and policy think tanks.

Clearly, fintech platforms have demonstrated better cost efficiencies in granular credit delivery and these can improve further with scale, thereby facilitating financial inclusion. But to leverage on the full potential of "finnovation", all stakeholders need to work together to ensure:

The keynote address by Shri Suvendu Pati, CGM – FinTech Department, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was the high point of the webinar, complemented by the rich insights from industry experts in the panel discussion as well as from the presentation made by the Acuité team were appreciated by the audience.

We sincerely thank Shri Suvendu Pati and our other speakers - Alok Mittal - Co-founder and CEO - Indifi, Vivek Veda - Co-founder and CFO- KreditBee, Rakesh Bhojnagarwala - Senior Vice President- Axis Bank, Pranay Jain - Director (Digital & Tech) – Avendus and Suman Chowdhury - Chief Analytical Officer- Acuité Ratings & Research Limited who acted as the moderator.

The webinar is part of the Acuité NBFC Insight 2022 Series which is a knowledge-sharing initiative in the financial sector based on solid in-house research.

We also thank all the participants for making the webinar a huge success. In case you missed a part of the proceedings, the recording of the webinar can be accessed here:
https://bit.ly/3Qo0NZ6

Key Takeaways:

• Acuité Group has been at the forefront on the sustainability agenda with its subsidiary ESGRisk.Ai completing the ESG assessment of over 600 listed companies in India and Acuité Ratings itself being the first signatory to the PRI statement among the Indian CRAs, committing to incorporate ESG factors in its ratings criteria.
• The concept of green hydrogen and its potential to fast forward reduction of carbon emissions has taken the world by storm. The government has announced the National Hydrogen Mission in 2021 and the Ministry of Power issued policy guidelines for green hydrogen in Feb 2022 with a target for 5 mn tons by 2030.
• The rapid ramp up of solar power generation capacity in India from the current levels of around 50 GW and at a significantly lower cost from the current levels will be a key factor in building a conducive eco-system for large scale investment in green hydrogen.
• While ambitious targets have been set to bring down the cost of green hydrogen to below USD 2 per kg from the levels of USD 4-5 per kg, it will also depend on the scale, technology, efficiency and capital cost of the installed electrolysers apart from incentive programmes such as the PLI for manufacture of such capital equipment in India at competitive costs.
• The other important elements for the success of the green hydrogen eco-system in India is pooling of demand as well as development of adequate infrastructure for transportation and storage.
• Indian oil refiners and fertilizer manufacturers who produce and consume ‘gray’ hydrogen should take the leadership in committing investments towards green hydrogen.

Suman Chowdhury, our Chief Analytical Officer, gave insights on Sustainable Finance: Huge value at stake! at FICCI's #CAPAM2021 18th Capital Market Conference.
https://twitter.com/ficci_india/status/1421038805235027975?s=20

"Our Chief Analytical Officer participated in a webinar on the role of credit rating in bank loans and debt capital market. While the participants including the senior bankers highlighted the continuing relevance of the CRAs in the credit markets of India, the CAO shared his perspective on the growing importance of ESG factors in overall credit worthiness and the concerns around lack of adequate and timely information from a significant proportion of rated companies in India.

Here is the link to the recordings of the webinar: https://youtu.be/GNhekVHt4ps

Our CAO, Suman Chowdhury, talked about impact of various programs on corporate credit quality in a Bankers' Roundtable organized by JITO PROFESSIONAL FORUM Please refer to the link for further details: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6745645574088916992

Mr. Suman Chowdhury spoke on the global economic environment and particularly that in South Asia in the backdrop of the lingering Covid-19 pandemic. While highlighting the recent credit landscape in India, he also shared post pandemic sectoral outlooks with an audience which comprised bankers and investors from Bangladesh. Please refer to the link for further details: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6715213133134270464

Mody University School of Business (MUSOB) saw its MBA 2020-22 Program take off with an exciting 3 Day Orientation Program – 1st to 3rd September - conducted in online mode. A galaxy of speakers – mostly senior industry leaders - addressed the students on wide-ranging topics related to business, functional areas, social impact issues, soft skills and mindset grooming. Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer, Acuite Ratings & Research, was the Chief Guest of the program. The three days was followed up by a concluding day – which saw the students reflecting on the learnings from the first three days and then finishing off with a well-managed cultural programs which got the students and faculty together as a family. Students from various parts of Rajasthan – as well as from other states like Haryana, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal – have joined the program.

Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer moderated a panel discussion which was based on the role of debt market, with special focus on market bonds.

Our President- Ratings, Suman Chowdhury was the moderator in the panel discussion on "Accessing Trade Finance for MSMEs". It was an absorbing session where the panelists deliberated on the alternative financing solutions for MSMEs like factoring services. "Trade finance is not just a convenient mechanism for financing of MSMEs but has also experienced lower defaults globally compared to traditional finance; it is important that all the key stakeholders work together to improve the access of MSMEs to trade finance, making them more export competitive in particular and helping them realise their growth potential." concluded Mr. Chowdhury.

As a panel member in the session on "Improving compliance in the Gems & Jewellery Sector” anchored by Manisha Gupta, Editor-CNBC, our President-Ratings, Mr Suman Chowdhury mentioned that better transparency and disclosure by the industry players is the key to winning the confidence of banks and rating agencies. "While diversity and size of the business have a role to play in the rating, the quality and the strength of the balance sheet has a larger significance”, he said.

A glimpse from the Cbonds Emerging Market Bond Conference held at Hong Kong, where Mr. Suman Chowdhury, President - Rating Operations, Acuité delivered an insightful presentation on ‘Indian Bond Markets & Credit Rating Landscape’. Some key messages included "Indian corporate bond markets have an attractive risk-return trade-off and significant potential to attract global investors. However, this will need credible information and research services out of India, better issuer governance structures and also strong facilitation from the regulators."

Mr. Jayesh Gandhi, CFA delivered an insightful presentation to the members of the analytical team at Acuité. In his session, Mr. Gandhi covered the returns and volatility across various asset classes, the key factors that determine returns, and a 38 year history of market returns segregated into periods of bull and bear phases among other aspects.

Acuité Ratings & Research organised the first edition of the India Credit Risk Summit on 11th February 2019 at The Regency Ballroom, Hyatt Regency, Delhi. Prof. Edward I Altman, Professor Emeritus of Finance at NYU, Stern School of Business, was the keynote speaker at the event. He is best known for the development of the Altman Z-Score for predicting bankruptcy. He shared his insights based on 50 years of his work on credit risk management. This was followed by a panel discussion - ‘Has the credit cycle bottomed out in India? – which bought together a group of experts to share their thoughts on the medium-term outlook on the credit cycle. The summit had a global reach and presence of policy-makers, regulators, bankers, investors, and business leaders.

Acuité Ratings participated in the Sa-dhan National Conference 2018 held on September 19-20, 2018 in New Delhi. Our President, Suman Chowdhury participated in the session "BUILDING A CULTURE OF RESPONSIBLE LENDING” where the co-panelists included Mrs. Neena Jain, General Manager, RBI, Mrs. Kalpana Pandey, MD& CEO, CRIF Highmark and Mr. Mukul Jaiswal, MD, Cashpor Credit. The session was moderated by Mr. Manoj Sharma, Managing Director, MicroSave Asia. Mr. Chowdhury mentioned that while the regulatory framework for the microfinance sector has been significantly strengthened, the risks of overleveraging cannot be ignored. Both industry SROs and the players need to use portfolio analytics, now available from credit bureaus, effectively to identify any emerging risks in a particular area.

Acuité Ratings participated in the 15th Annual Capital Market Conference(CAPAM) organized by FICCI on Sept. 11, 2018. Acuité's President Ratings, Suman Chowdhury was a panelist in the session on "Turnaround of Stressed Assets" which was moderated by Ms. Shilpa Kumar, MD & CEO, ICICI Securities and had eminent experts on the subject namely Dr. M.S. Sahoo, Chairman, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and Sakate Khaitan, Senior Partner, Khaitan Legal & Associates. Dr. Sahoo talked about the journey in IBBI so far while the panelists elaborated on how IBC is evolving quickly to speed up the resolution process and how it is bringing in a transformation in the way recovery is made from stressed corporate exposures.
"The larger impact of IBC comes from the financial discipline it brings in to the corporate sector, the strict monitoring of weak assets by the banking sector and the investors' comfort from a transparent legal framework- most of which are pre-requisites for a vibrant bond market in India going forward" said Mr. Chowdhury, President, Acuité Ratings.

SMERA was the Ratings Partner for the 3rd Edition Economic Times SME Activator Summit, organised by Times Group at the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai on June 29, 2018. It was positioned as an aiding, enabling and energising platform for the SMEs in India and discussed the contemporary trends and pressing issues in the SME Industry. The event facilitated many speakers who were MDs, CMDs, CEOs, and Presidents of various banks and financial institutions.

SMERA was the Gold Partner for the "Mega Banking Summit" organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Pune on March 3, 2018. Suman Chowdhury - President Ratings, SMERA, addressed 300 CAs and bankers, speaking about the financing landscape for MSMEs, SMERA's technological innovations and its role in the financial markets, SMERA's unique framework for rating of MSMEs and its increasing market share in the bank loan ratings segment.

The index provides a quantitative assessment of conditions facing India's small businesses on 6 parameters - Growth trend, Liquidity issues, access to Capital, Hiring trend, Industry performance, and Ease of Doing Business.

The index has been designed in collaboration with CAFRAL, research arm of Reserve Bank of India.

The survey is open to SMERA's esteemed clients and site challenges they are facing to expand their business.

Please click this link to participate: https://goo.gl/forms/0IkvNhZFhXwkNHX02

While your voice will reach the right authorities, we assure you that your personal details will be kept strictly confidential.

Your participation will be immensely valuable to create favourable business conditions and growth environment for SMEs.

Kalyan Jagnani, Senior Consultant, SMERA Ratings Limited, was one of the speakers at the 25th National Quality Summit, held in Bengaluru on 25-26 November. Mr Jagnani spoke on the topic ‘Opportunity Landscape for SMEs'.

SMERA was the Co-Partner for the SME Business Excellence Awards 2017- presented by Dun & Bradstreet and RBL Bank. The event was held on November 17, 2017 in New Delhi.

SMERA was the Knowledge Partner for the Banking Awards 2017 which were presented at an event held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai on Monday, August 21st, 2017. The event was attended by CTOs / CMDs / CEOs / EDs / MDs / Business Heads and other senior management personnel of leading Indian banks. The event served as a platform for stakeholders from the banking fraternity to network and connect with fellow business leaders.

SMERA was the Knowledge Partner for the SME Activator, 2017 event. The SME Activator event on SMEs was organized as a platform for SMEs to help prepare them for the GST as well as providing an understanding of the new opportunities, a market economy has to offer. As a part of the SME Spring Board Session, 8 SMEs were shortlisted and invited to present their business plans to an eminent group, forming the Jury and SMERA was involved in the nomination process.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet for Corporate Awards 2017 held on June 1, 2017 in Mumbai. This event was attended by CXOs, MDs and Business Heads along with other senior management personnel of the big corporate houses. The objective of the event was to acknowledge and felicitate the companies across various sectors.

Sankar Chakraborti, CEO, SMERA Ratings Limited, spoke at the event, Empowering SMEs through Improved Financial Access: The Role of SME Data, Credit Rating, and Start-up Finance organized by ADB Institute and National Credit Bureau in Bangkok, Thailand on 14-15 March 2017

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Karur Vysya Bank for SME Cluster Series 2016: Rajkot held on November 22, 2016 at Rajkot. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Corporation Bank for SME Cluster Series 2016: Coimbatore held on August 30, 2016 at Coimbatore. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA in association with Sumedha Fiscal Services Limited launched its report titled How Safe are Banks' Assets’? focussing on 20 sectors. The launch event was held on June 10, 2016 in Kolkata.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet for India's Top 500 Companies & Corporate Awards 2016 held on May 31, 2016 in Mumbai. This event was attended by CXOs, MDs and Business Heads along with other senior management personnel of the big corporate houses. The objective of the event was to acknowledge and felicitate the companies across various sectors.

Mr Sankar Chakraborti, CEO - SMERA Ratings Ltd, shared his views on Microfinance at World Trade Center on May 12, 2016 in Mumbai

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Oriental Bank of Commerce for SME Cluster Series 2016: Ranchi held on April 25, 2016 at Ranchi. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Oriental Bank of Commerce for SME Cluster Series 2016: Hyderabad held on April 21, 2016 at Hyderabad. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Oriental Bank of Commerce for SME Cluster Series 2016: Gurgaon held on March 16, 2016 at Gurgaon. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Oriental Bank of Commerce for SME Cluster Series 2016: Vadodara held on March 14, 2016 at Vadodara. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Oriental Bank of Commerce for SME Cluster Series 2016: Pune held on March 11, 2016 at Pune. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Oriental Bank of Commerce for SME Cluster Series 2016: Visakhapatnam held on March 08, 2016 at Visakhapatnam. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet and Oriental Bank of Commerce for SME Cluster Series 2016: Bengaluru held on February 19, 2016 at Bengaluru. This event was attended by promoters from SME. The objective of the event was to highlight the growth drivers of doing business alongwith the challenges faced by SMEs.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet for India's Leading BFSI Companies 2016 held on Feb 25, 2015 in Mumbai. The event was attended by CXOs, MDs and Business Heads along with other senior management personnel from BFSI sector. The objective of the event was to highlight the trends and contribution of the BFSI sector.

Mr. Antony Jose, Vice President - Business Development, SMERA spoke at SME Entrepreneurship Development Seminar organised by Rotary and BSE in Mumbai on Dec 1, 2015.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet for India's Leading Equity Broking Houses and Equity Broking Awards 2015 held on Sep 30, 2015 in Mumbai. This event was attended by CXOs, MDs and Business Heads along with other senior management personnel from leading equity broking houses. The objective of the event was to acknowledge and felicitate the equity broking houses for the exemplary performance across various categories.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet for India's Top Banks and Banking Awards 2015 held on Aug 28, 2015 in Mumbai. This  event was attended by CXOs, MDs and Business Heads along with other senior management personnel of the leading scheduled commercial bank. The objective of the event was to acknowledge and felicitate the banks for the exemplary performance across various categories.

On May 14, 2015, Sankar Chakraborti, CEO of SMERA , spoke at an interactive session with students at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai. Sankar shared his insights on Indian Industry and economy. The lecture was followed by a Q&A session.

Sankar Chakraborti, CEO, SMERA spoke at CII - National Conference on MSME Funding "Enabling MSME Business in India-Funding & Support" on March 05, 2015 in New Delhi.

In its Proceedings & Recommendations report published after the 2nd NBFC National Summit held in January 2015, ASSOCHAM incorporated recommendations made by Sankar Chakraborti, CEO, SMERA Ratings Limited on the way forward for NBFCs in India.

Sankar Chakraborti, CEO, SMERA spoke at AIMA - 5th MSME National Convention to enlighten the delegates about the success stories of Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises on January 14, 2015 in New Delhi.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet for SME Business Excellence Awards 2014 held on Nov 24, 2014 in Delhi. This event was attended by CXOs, MDs and Business Heads along with other senior management personnel from the SME fraternity. The objective of the event was to acknowledge and felicitate the SMEs for the exemplary performance across various sectors and categories.

SMERA partnered with Dun & Bradstreet for India's Top Banks and Banking Awards 2014 held on Aug 27, 2014 in Mumbai. This event was attended by CXOs, MDs and Business Heads along with other senior management personnel of the leading scheduled commercial bank. The objective of the event was to acknowledge and felicitate the banks for the exemplary performance across various categories.

SMERA partnered with Indian Overseas Bank for the seminar on Financing Options for MSME's & Benefit of External Credit Rating" held on Jun 07, 2013 in Chennai

SME Rating Agency of India Ltd partnered with Reliance Capital "The Indian SME Forum 2012" held on Aug 23, 2012 in Chennai.The objective of this event is to propel the SME movement by nurturing entrepreneurship and support SMEs across India.