Vol. 3, Issue 7, Part R (2017)

Abstract
Microfinance can suitably play a significant role in a country like India where 68.24 per cent of the population of the country lives in Rural Area and of it 60.85 per cent rely on agriculture for their livelihood and also to those low-income individuals who are looking for financial services at low interest rates. In any country, be it developing or developed one, Microfinance is regarded as a useful apparatus for economic development of that country. Poverty is one of the prevalent challenges faced by Indian sub-continent. India, being one of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations, with approximately 1.35 billion population, is seen by almost every country as an emerging economy. India’s growth fails to make significant impact due to its poverty, almost 23 per cent population of India lives in poverty. Government of India making it a priority started various schemes to mitigate poverty, but it failed to deliver. Here, microfinance comes forward to fill the gulf. There is some progress made in this area after active participation by NABARD. A substantial amount of Microfinance Institutions have also decocted in this business. One of the parts of World Bank Group, The International Finance Corporation (IFC), has estimated that approximately 135 million people have unswervingly profited from programs established by microfinance institutions for the year 2014. Nonetheless, these programs till that date have only been made available to almost 20.05 per cent of the 3.23 billion individuals who are surviving below the poverty line as per the definition of World Bank. This paper identifies the role and importance of Microfinance Institutions and also it analyses the performance of these institutions in India