text: The SHG-Bank linkage programme, which has been in place since 1992 in India, has savings accounts with 7.9 million SHGs, with 4.6 million SHGs having outstanding loans, with approximately $ 2 billion in saving with banks, and $ 8.9 Billion is outstanding loans, making it one of the largest microfinance program of its kind in the world (March 2016).