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 The Sangam Stores project is aimed at providing working capital finance to SKS members who own small ‘kirana’ stores. With credit supplied by SKS, shopkeepers can buy consumer goods and groceries through a dedicated third-party vendor. This relationship gives access to quality products at competitive prices that are delivered straight to their shops. Our members save time and transport costs normally spent on buying goods from local markets. SKS is partnering with Metro, the German wholesaler, which supplies member kiranas from a special inventory of 250 SKUs. Under this project, SKS generates and aggregates demand from kirana store owners, in addition to supplying credit to them. This pilot is the first step towards creating a vibrant distribution network across sections of society currently not serviced by manufacturers.
  Many SKS members have asked for larger loans to make improvements on their homes or build new ones. SKS has launched a housing loan pilot for members who have been with SKS for a minimum of three years. Members can repair their houses, such as changing a thatched or asbestos roof to RCC, or make improvements such as building a latrine or adding an extra room. The loan has a repayment period of three to five years as per the repayment capacity of the members. SKS is currently carrying out a pilot programme in rural markets with support from HDFC and hopes to roll out housing loans more widely in the next financial year.
  SKS has partnered with Hindustan Unilever to provide Pureit water filter devices to our members. SKS provides the loan to make the water filter affordable and HUL provides the distribution, installation, and servicing that ensures our members have access to clean water. SKS is currently assessing the learning from our pilot branches and will determine a rollout plan to reach our members pan-India in the coming months.
 Most of our members live in areas that have erratic power supply forcing business and normal lifestyle to come to a halt with sunset. Solar-powered lighting gives our members the opportunity to be independent from unreliable, low-voltage electricity grids or to light their homes if theirs are currently un-electrified. After completing a successful pilot SKS is currently evaluating the learnings from the project.
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