In April 2025, OeEB provided long-term financing of USD 20 million to the Vivriti India Retail Assets Fund (VIRAF). The funds will be used to finance microfinance institutions and NBFCs that primarily provide loans to microfinance clients and micro and small enterprises in India.
| Project name | Vivriti India Retail Assets Fund (VIRAF) |
| Region | Southern and Eastern Asia |
| Sector | Financial sector / Microfinance / SME |
| Service | Investments & Financing |
| Project country | India |
| OeEB project volume | USD 20 million |
| International climate finance according to UNFCCC | No |
| Additionality | Financial additionality |
| Project partner |
i.a. Vivriti Asset Management, IFC, BI |
VIRAF is managed by Vivriti Asset Management (VAM), an Indian Asset Manager, and was launched in March 2023 with a target fund size of USD 250 million.
The fund focuses on scaling investments in securitized debt securities that are backed by small ticket loans to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) from NBFCs, microfinance institutions and other financial institutions serving the underserved borrower segment in India, thereby increasing their access to affordable funding and ability to on-lend to microfinance clients and micro and small enterprises. VIRAF is a first-of-a-kind asset-backed securitization fund in India.
India’s 63 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contribute up to 30 per cent of the country’s GDP, generate over 40 per cent of exports, and create employment for over 100 million people. IFC study estimates the MSME finance gap in India is USD 342 Bn, with MSEs accounting for 95 percent of that gap.
Approximately 40% of the fund's financing of the VIRAF is expected to be used for microfinance institutions (typically with women as end borrowers) and approximately 40% for NBFCs focused on financing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Furthermore, the fund can finance Education, 2W and Commercial Vehicles loans, among other things.