Pursuits
Billionaire Daughter Leads Birla Into Microloans
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Ananyashree Birla, the teenage daughter of Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, is lending to the poor. Her experience may help her father’s quest for a banking permit.
The 18 year-old Birla scion’s Svatantra Microfin Pvt. is offering credit to women in villages in Maharashtra state to buy sewing machines and start businesses to make papadums, she said in an interview. The company, which charges 20 percent interest on the loans, plans to expand into neighboring Gujarat soon, said Birla, who enters undergraduate college this year.