This story originally appeared in our February 10, 2011 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe.

By the Numbers

India’s significant energy demand demonstrates the importance of investing in alternative energy sources.

5

India’s global ranking in terms of energy use.

40%

The percentage of India’s population that has little or no access to commercial energy.

US$2.96bn

The approximate amount of financial investment in India’s clean energy sector in 2009.

10.9%

The percentage of India’s total electricity grid that comprises of renewable energy.

75%

The percentage of India’s grid-connected renewable energy that comes from wind power.

Datagraphics

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) are a driving force of economic development, and are key to job creation and GDP growth, both in developed and developing countries. However, mainstream banks, particularly in emerging markets, have typically viewed SMEs as high-risk investments and have shied away from serving these businesses.

And while banks may consider many of these SMEs to be too small or risky, even the fast growth of microfinance has not helped their cause too much because many of them are too large to be effectively financed by microfinance institutions. More SMEs are suffering from this noticeably widening gap, which is called the SME financing gap.