The microfinance industry in India will double its lending in the next five years if the current growth trends continue, said Nobel laureate and founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus. The industry grew at over 40% in FY2019 with its loan portfolio reaching Rs 178,552 crore at the end of March 2019, according to the Sa-Dhan Bharat Microfinance report 2019. Yunus, considered a pioneer in the microfinance sector, said that the industry was likely to double in size in the next five years. “Whatever the industry has done in the last 25-30 years, you would see it double in the next five years as it has gained tremendous speed now,” he said. The Peace Prize winner from Bangladesh pointed out that the key challenge for the industry would be to prepare itself to generate employment for the next generation and to transform rural economies to reduce migration from rural areas to cities.