A Woman who aims big is a woman to be feared. This blog is for the women who want to start their business or already are in the business entrepreneurs. But unfortunately, women encounter some critical challenges in their business journey. In India these challenges look like funding issues, availability of market, societal and family pressure, gender bias, lack of confidence in business skills, etc.To address these issues, the Government of India is implementing several schemes that can help the women in our society to make their dream a reality.
Here are 8 start-up schemes for women in India that will not only address the challenges faced by women but also help establish and expand their businesses.
1 WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PLATFORM
This is a govt portal, An initiative by NITI AYOG to aid and assist aspiring as well as established women entrepreneurs in India. Once you register yourself in the portal, it provides support in incubation, training, marketing, mentorship, funding, and financial assistance.
2 STARTUP INDIA SCHEME
This is a scheme with a holistic approach. If you are finding it hard to avail the govt benefits then this is for you. It helps provide hand-holding funding support, industry-academic partnership, incentives, etc to promote a favorable environment. On this platform, you can search for government schemes and grants relevant to your business ideas/startup. To nurture women entrepreneurs 10% of the total corpus is put aside for women entrepreneurs only. Start-up India is the 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world
3 PRIME MINISTER’S EMPLOYMENT GENERATION PROGRAMME
This scheme is for women who are looking for financial assistance in loans. It is a credit-linked subsidy scheme for setting up new enterprises, the subsidy level in the program is 25% in urban areas and 35% in rural areas. It means the beneficiaries of this scheme are required to pay a minimum portion for the project cost and avail subsidy on the loan taken from the banks linked with the scheme.
4 STAND-UP INDIA SCHEME.
The scheme focuses on women entrepreneurs and housewives who want to start their businesses. It lets women entrepreneurs avail bank loans between Rs 10 lakh to 1 crore in the manufacturing and trading sector.
5 MAHILA UDYAM NIDHI SCHEME.
Under this scheme women, entrepreneurs need not provide any collateral for availing of the loan. Women who are in production, manufacturing, and service-related industries are eligible for this scheme. Initially, it was offered by Punjab National Bank and SIDBI, but due to the success of this program, other banks were also included in this scheme.
6 CENT KALYAN SCHEME
This scheme is for new entrepreneurs and self-employed women for micro/small enterprises by the Central Bank of India. Loans up to Rs 1 crore are provided and that too without any collateral security.
7 MUDRA YOJANA SCHEME FOR WOMEN
This scheme is for Individual women desiring to start small new enterprises like beauty parlors, tailoring shops, tuition centers, etc as well as a group of women desiring to start a venture together.The loan amount up to Rs 50,000 to 10 lakhs can be availed and the loan doesn’t require any collateral security.
8 STREE SHAKTI PACKAGE FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR
The scheme is run by the State Bank Of India. It provides certain concessions to women with majority ownership over 50% in an enterprise. This is a scheme for a women’s venture. It provides interest concessions of 0.05% on loans exceeding Rs 2 lakh and requires no security for loans up to Rs 5 lakh.
These are some of the distinguished schemes that are enabling the women’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. According to Forbes India, Indian women make up 13.6% of entrepreneurs in the country.With Govt initiatives like these, the numbers can go up very rapidly.
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