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Building Houses, Financing Homes Four new members join the MIM team
Given MIM’s commitment to making the market in
India’s Rapidly Growing Housing and Housing
low-income housing and its overall goal of
Finance Markets for the Low Income Customers developing market based solutions in the social
Monitor Inclusive Markets released its landmark study on space, we have expanded the team to include four
the state of the low income housing market in India — new members.
Building Houses, Financing Homes: India’s Rapidly Vivek Hurry heads operations, processes and
Growing Housing and Housing Finance Markets for the Low Income finance at MIM while also working to build the
Customer. The study, which commenced in early 2010, was commissioned market in low-income housing finance.
by the National Housing Bank, funded by FIRST Initiative and actively
Sandeep Nair is our new Chief of Staff and works
supported by the World Bank.
with the CEO of the group, serving as his
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representative to social entrepreneurs,
O
corporations, donors, and community and
OUR PARTNERS government partners.
Monitor Partners with Aptus and Grameen Koota in their Sangeetha Ramachander is working to catalyze
micromortgages business interest and investment in micromortgages in
India. She will be actively involved in MIM’s efforts
Aptus Value Housing Finance India Ltd. seeks to address the housing finance to increase the affordability and accessibility of
needs of low income and middle income customers, especially in the home finance to low income households in India.
informal sector, from semi urban and rural markets.
Sanjay Sharma will be working on MIM’s new
Grameen Koota was founded with a mission to empower the poorest initiative to develop a strategy for the supply of
families. It is present in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra with clean drinking water to urban communities in
146 branches and nearly 4.5 lakh active customers. India. He will also be actively involved in existing
affordable housing projects.
Monitor Inclusive Markets is collaborating with both organisations for
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sharing of knowledge and nonproprietary information on the
micromortgages business. MONITOR IN THE NEWS
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SECTOR NEWS
Monitor Inclusive Markets hosts a Roundtable Discussion on
Sustainable Technologies in LIH
As part of its market building efforts, Monitor Inclusive Markets convened a th
th
session on “Sustainable Technologies in LIH” on July 29 , 2010 in Mumbai. Home Truths, Business Today’s July 25 issue. The
The objective of the session was to provide an interactive forum for low- Eleventh Five-Year Plan estimated India's housing
income housing developers to share their experiences, challenges and best shortage at about 25 million units. Nearly all of this
practices in implementing sustainable technologies. The session resulted in is among economically weaker and low income
information sharing, cross-learning, and relationship building amongst groups. As Ashish Karamchandani of MIM, which
participants, which included developers, housing finance companies, and worked closely with Business Today on this study,
allied industry representatives. writes in a perceptive column, “India Inc. woke up
Read More only recently to the huge profits in this area”.
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FEATURE
Building Houses, Financing Homes
India’s Rapidly Growing Housing and Housing Finance Markets for the Low Income Customers
In 2006, after identifying low-income urban housing as an area of great unmet need in India (~21 million urban households without
proper housing), Monitor Inclusive Markets decided to catalyze the market through the development of a set of innovative solutions
(including a new business model) to address market and customer needs, as well as key stakeholder concerns. Monitor Inclusive
Markets saw this as a space where a market-based solution was not only viable, but could drive significant social impact at scale.
Since then, Monitor Inclusive Markets has been working to “make the market” in urban housing. The
first key step was to get supply of low-income urban housing started. To do this, we focused on raising
awareness about the opportunity and the new model, we engaged with developers to attract them to
the market, provided a range of “hand-holding” services to those interested in the space (which even
went as far as hiring direct sales agents to sell housing in Ahmedabad!), and helped build out the local
ecosystem (e.g., arranged customer financing, provided architectural designs for the housing units). We
also worked on key areas in the larger ecosystem — including the support, incubation and development
of housing finance companies targeting the low income and informal sector customer.
In the last four years, the low-income housing market has seen a series of encouraging developments.
Driven partly by the macro-economic recession (which has led to some traditionally up-market
developers down-switching their target customer segments, and starting to seriously consider the
provision of low-income housing), and partly by the efforts of dedicated “market-makers” and
“field-builders”, (including NHB, World Bank, IFC, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Monitor
Inclusive Markets) who are committed to market-based, alternative models of building commercially
viable housing for the lower-income segments, and have demonstrated the value of and the
opportunity in the urban low income housing market, there is now the beginnings of a robust supply
curve in low-income urban housing.
We are happy to report that our efforts in making the market have been successful. Today the urban
housing and housing finance markets for the low income customer are seeing unprecedented levels of
activity across numerous states in India.
OUR PARTNERS
Monitor partners with Aptus and Grameen Koota in their micromortgages business
Monitor Inclusive Markets is collaborating with Aptus for sharing of knowledge and nonproprietary information on the micromortgages
business. Under the collaboration, both Monitor and Aptus will share the learnings in the area of micromortgages with each other.
Aptus Value Housing Finance India Ltd. seeks to address the housing finance needs of low income and middle income customers,
especially in the informal sector, from semi urban and rural markets. It is promoted by Mr. Anandan, who was the Managing Director of
Cholamandalam DBS till 2006 and Cholamandalam MS from 2006-08. Aptus’ initial area of operation would be in Southern India with a
focus on Tamil Nadu. Aptus formally commenced operations on 19 August 2010 and has sanctioned loans worth Rs 100 lacs and
disbursed loans worth Rs 50 lacs. The Company aims to disburse loans worth Rs 125 crores in its first year of operations. More
information can be found at http://www.aptusindia.com/
In the case of Grameen Koota as well, MIM will share knowledge and nonproprietary information on the micromortgages business.
Grameen Koota was founded in Bangalore in 1999 with a mission to empower the poorest families. It started out as an NGO and has
since converted to an NBFC-MFI. It is now present in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra with 146 branches and nearly 4.5 lakh
active customers. It has so far focused on lending short-tenure loans primarily to women through self-help groups. However, in May
2008, it initiated the individual lending program – MAARG – focused on lending to individual male members of households in urban
areas. As the next stage in its evolution from being a pure microfinance player, Grameen Koota is considering expanding its portfolio of
financial services — borne out of a strong desire to effect a stronger and more holistic change amongst its customers but in a
commercially viable manner. The Company is looking to launch a housing finance company targeted at low income customers and is in
the process of submitting the necessary details to the regulator National Housing Bank. More information can be found at
http://www.gfspl.in/
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SECTOR NEWS
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Monitor Inclusive Markets hosts a roundtable discussion on sustainable technologies in low income housing
th
As part of its market building efforts, Monitor Inclusive Markets convened a session on “Sustainable Technologies in LIH” on July 29 ,
2010 in Mumbai. The objective of the session was to provide an interactive forum for low-income housing developers to share their
experiences, challenges and best practices in implementing sustainable technologies. The session resulted in information sharing, cross-
learning, and relationship building amongst participants, which included developers, housing finance companies, and allied industry
representatives.
MIM started the session by providing a brief overview of 10 sustainable technologies found to be most feasible from a developer and
consumer perspective, based on a IFC sponsored study in 2008. The group then discussed on-the-ground experiences in implementing
these technologies, and provided insights into the feasibility of incorporating these technologies in LIH.
A key takeaway from the session was that there is substantial activity and interest in the area of sustainability. Many of the developers
present had already incorporated sustainable features in their projects, and shared the implementation challenges and cost economics
with the group. Many in the room were also considering new technologies and benefitted from the recounting of these experiences.
The opportunities for cross learnings will continue post this session through site visits and information sharing.
Given the growing interest in sustainability, Monitor plans to hold another session in six to twelve months.
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@ MONITOR
Four new members Join the Monitor Inclusive Markets India Team
Vivek Hurry
Vivek heads operations, processes and finance at Monitor Inclusive Markets and is also working to build the market in low-income
housing finance.
With over 28 years of experience across the service sector and as an entrepreneur, he has always had a keen focus on enhancing
systems and processes and harnessing technology to improve efficiency and productivity.
Vivek has worked in shipping, banking and consumer finance before founding a software development company. In 1999 he co-founded
and launched India's first online resource for Indian law: lexsite.com, a pioneering library of legal material together with research
services. LexSite is subscribed to by a wide spectrum of companies, law firms and consultants.
His third entrepreneurial venture was as a co-founder of one of India's earliest legal process outsourcing companies. From an initial
4-member team, he grew it to a 200-person company, with a clientele spread across US, UK, the EU and China, including the 3 largest
legal publishers in the world.
Vivek is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. He also holds a Bachelor of
Commerce degree from Bombay University.
Sandeep Nair
Sandeep is the Chief of Staff for the CEO at Monitor Inclusive Markets. He works with Ashish Karamchandani and serves as his
representative to social entrepreneurs, corporations, donors, and community and government partners. Sandeep is also currently
working on increasing the supply of housing finance as well as coordinating MIM's fund raising efforts.
Prior to joining Monitor, Sandeep worked with an equity and debt fund focusing on microfinance in India, a mobile technology startup,
and as an analyst at Capgemini working primarily with clients in the Financial Services industry.
Sandeep has an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Corporate Finance from
SDA Bocconi, Milan.
Sangeetha Ramachander
Sangeetha is involved in catalyzing interest and investment in micromortgages in India and an integral part of MIM’s efforts to increase
the affordability and accessibility of home finance to low income households in India.
Prior to Monitor, Sangeetha worked with Ernst & Young for six years in Bangalore and Chennai, where she was part of the Lead
Advisory team that provides advisory services on a wide range of transactions including mergers and acquisitions, private equity
syndications and strategic reviews. Sangeetha also worked with HSBC in their Personal Financial Services division in Kolkata for two
years before moving to Ernst & Young.
Sangeetha is a graduate of the Indian School of Business and also holds a Masters in Economics from the Gokhale Institute of Politics
and Economics.
Sanjay Sharma
Sanjay will be working on MIM’s new initiative to develop a strategy for the supply of clean drinking water to urban communities in
India. He will also be actively involved in existing affordable housing projects.
Prior to joining Monitor, Sanjay was an American India Foundation William J. Clinton Fellow placed at Roshan Vikas, an urban
microfinance NGO in Hyderabad. There, he worked on an organizational restructuring to strengthen Roshan Vikas’s capabilities and
plan for future expansion. Prior to this role, Sanjay spent three years at JPMorgan in New York. At JPMorgan, he spent two years as an
investment banking analyst in the firm’s Public Finance group, advising state and local governments on infrastructure finance. Sanjay
spent his third year at JPMorgan as an acquisitions analyst focused on identifying and executing investments in transportation and
energy infrastructure, including renewable energy projects in the U.S. and Europe.
Sanjay has a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University’s School of Management.
We are still recruiting for a few key positions in Monitor Inclusive Markets, if you are interested please get in touch with Naina Batra
(naina_batra@monitor.com)
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