A Helping Hand To Women Entrepreneurs To boost the entrepreneurial ventures of women, the government of India offers a series of schemes. We have curated a list of eight such plans which are helping women in their businesses
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"You educate a woman, you educate a generation," said Brigham Young, an American religious leader and politician. With time, women have established themselves in every field and entrepreneurship is no different. From village to city, there is a woman entrepreneur in every nook and corner of the country.
To boost the entrepreneurial ventures of women, the government of India offers a series of schemes.
ANNAPURNA YOJANA
This loan is provided to women in the food catering industry, trying to establish their small scale businesses. Under the Annapurna Yojana, the government of India offers women entrepreneurs loans up to INR 50,000. Once sanctioned, the amount has to be repaid in 36 monthly installments. The interest rate is based on the market rate and the concerned bank.
BHARATIYA MAHILA BANK BUSINESS LOAN
This banking scheme supports women and their businesses on a large scale, the loan limit is INR 20 crore. There are different plans under this scheme.
MUDRA YOJANA SCHEME
Mudra loan for women was launched by the government to offer financial support for women entrepreneurs starting a beauty parlor, tuition center, a tailoring shop, etc. This scheme does not require any collateral to grant the loan. After approval of the loan, women are given mudra cards that work like credit cards with the withdrawal limit being 10 per cent of the loan. This scheme has several different types of plans as per business type, level of expansion, and loan aim:
Shishu Loan: For businesses in the initial stage, the maximum loan amount granted is INR 50,000.
Kishor Loan: This loan is for businesses that are already established but wish to improve services. The amount granted varies from INR 50,000 to INR 5 lakh.
Tarun Loan: This loan is for the well-established businesses planning to expand their reach and is short on capital; they can avail as much as INR 10 lakh.
ORIENT MAHILA VIKAS YOJANA SCHEME
This scheme was launched by Oriental Bank of Commerce. This plan is for women holding 51 per cent share capital separately or collectively as a proprietary concern. The period of repayment is flexible up to seven years and the loan limit is INR 25 lakh.
DENA SHAKTI SCHEME
This scheme is limited only to those in the fields of agriculture, retail, manufacturing, small enterprises or micr-credit organizations. The Dena Shakti Scheme provides loans up to INR 20 lakh. The scheme also provides a concession of 0.25 per cent on the rate of interest.
UDYOGINI SCHEME
The plan has been implemented by women development corporations under the government of India. There are specific conditions to avail loan under this scheme. The family income should be less than INR 1.5 lakh a year. It's targeted to uplift women from rural and under-developed regions. The borrower can get up to INR 3 lakh for small business.
CENT KALYANI SCHEME
This scheme envisages empowerment of women to start new project or expand the existing unit. This scheme provides assistance in the form of capital expenditure (Plant/Machinery) and also meeting day to day expenditure (working capital). This scheme is provided by the Central Bank of India. Under this scheme, the loan limit is INR 100 lakh.
MAHILA UDYAM NIDHI YOJANA
The Centre launched Mahila Udyam Nidhi Yojana. Under this scheme, the government aims to empower the women by providing them loans under the small industrial development bank of India (SIDBI). The eligible women will get a loan amount ranging from INR 5 lakh to INR 10 lakh depending on the business unit's size. The beneficiaries have to pay one per cent service charge annually and the interest rates depend on the project cost and individual bank lending the amount.
Giving an insight into these schemes, Dr. Aruna Sharma, practitioner development economist and former secretary of steel and IT in GOI, said, "Financial inclusion is the key to easy access for women. Thus, it is important to have her account within a 5km radius in financial institutions like post office/co-op banks/ small financial banks/ RTBs and banks. This ensures complete financial literacy in terms of not just G2P( government-to-person) but credit, saving, insurance and other financial products."
