Utkarsh

Varanasi, Indiawww.utkarsh.bank/
Asset ClassesPrivate equity
Impact strategyFinancial Inclusion
SectorMicrofinance
Aligned with SDGs
  • No poverty

Utkarsh provides access to financial services to the economically weaker section of the population.The company started operations as a microfinance institution in 2009 and transformed into a bank in 2017, providing multiple banking services. Utkarsh is predominantly active in India’s states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have one of the largest concentrations of economically underprivileged populations in the world. Together, they have a population of 300 million with an average per capita GDP of less than USD 1,000 – which is around half of the all India average.

Utkarsh’s aim is to provide this underprivileged population access to a broad suite of affordable financial services, enabling them to become more resilient and to pursue avenues of life they were unable to choose. Through its welfare foundation Utkarsh also undertakes financial literacy projects, initiated the distribution of solar lamps, and organises mobile health clinics that travel around rural areas where availability of primary healthcare facilities is limited.