Bhubaneswar: Two brothers from Odisha – Gobinda Chandra Pattanaik and Dibyajyoti Pattanaik – have made it to Forbes India’s 100 Great People Managers 2021.
The list was prepared after an exhaustive study by Great Manager Institute, Mumbai, which followed a rigorous four-layer process sifting through 10,273 managers across 4,189 organisations.
The two brothers are Managing Director and Director of Annapurna Finance Pvt Ltd, respectively, based in Bhubaneswar.
Forbes has described Gobinda as a pioneer in the field of microfinance with over two decades of experience. He has always been at the forefront of implementing developmental activities and building microenterprises. He established Annapurna Finance Pvt Ltd in 2009 with the purpose of serving the economically weaker sections of the society and creating means to sustainable livelihood for women. It is now one of the top ten NBFC-MFIs in the country.
He is also an advisor to many district administrations and has played a key role in setting up various community-based institutions.
Similarly, Dibyajyoti has over 16 years of experience in microfinance, micro-enterprise development and development sector consulting. He is also the president of Odisha Association of Financial Inclusion, which is working towards financial inclusion in Odisha to serve the poor through responsible finance. He is also serving as a board member of Microfinance Institutions Network, and has contributed to the issues of the financial inclusion sector, the business magazine said.
Last year, Annapurna Finance had won India’s Most Admirable Brand by The Brand Story.
In November 2021, the Odisha-based microfinance institution backed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Oman India Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF), has raised $20 million (around Rs 148 crore) from Germany-based development finance institution DEG, which the company said would help boost its financial inclusion objectives.
