Mumbai, April, 25 2007 - Aimed at providing access to formal finance to over 600 million rural poor, ICICI Prudential on Wednesday launched Micro Systematic Investment Plan (MSIP).

The scheme will provide an opportunity for the rural poor to invest periodically in small amounts, as low as Rs 50 and its multiples," ICICI Prudential Managing Director Pankaj Razdan told reporters here.
He said the MSIP would help the rural poor to build a corpus of savings over the long-term through a disciplined and systematic approach.

Having no lock-in period, investors are entitled to withdraw the invested amount anytime, subject to applicable exit loads.

Razdan said that the ICICI Prudential has over 200 tie-ups with micro finance institutions (MFIs) and NGOs across the country, which would act as aggregators and subsequently deposit the consolidated amount to the fund house.

"However, we will try to incorporate as many MFIs and NGOs as possible," ICICI bank's Deputy Managing Director Nachiket Mor said. ICICI Bank has 3.2 million customers in rural areas.

ICICI Prudential is one of the largest players in the domestic mutual fund industry. As on March 31, 2007, ICICI Prudential has Rs 37,906 crore worth of assets under management.