Vijay Mahajan

Biography

Vijay Mahajan was educated at India’s Institute of Technology in Delhi, the Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, and is a Fellow at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He could have chosen many different life paths and lucrative careers, but instead chose to channel his talents and education to improve rural Indian society. In 1983 he co-founded PRADAN, one of India’s most respected rural development NGOs, and in 1998 co-founded Sa-Dhan, the association of Indian MFIs. In 2001 he helped found the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society (APMAS), a capacity-building institution for the +500,000 women’s SHGs in the state. Mahajan has published a book on the rural non-farming sector in India and more than 50 articles on rural development and microfinance. 

Research Interest

 BASIX is the first MFI in India and among the first in the world to attract commercial equity investments internationally and within India. By successfully lobbying for changes in the Indian regulatory policy framework, BASIX helped create a viable institutional space for MFIs in India. The mission of BASIX is to promote a critical mass of opportunities for the rural poor and to attract commercial funding by proving that lending to the poor can be a viable business.