Since the government’s Stand-Up India program’s April 2016 debut, women-led business units have benefited most from it, accounting for 80.2% of bank loans approved as of early December. As of December 2, 2022, 1,59,961 loans had been approved for entrepreneurs, of which 1,28,361 loans went to women entrepreneurs, 23,797 loans to members of scheduled castes, and 7,803 loans to members of scheduled tribes, according to data recently shared in the Rajya Sabha by state minister of finance Bhagwat Karad.
The programme was established to encourage female and SC/ST entrepreneurs by providing bank loans between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore to at least one SC/ST borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch for the establishment of new businesses in the manufacturing, services, trading, and agriculturally related sectors.
Since the program’s commencement, Rs 30,160 crore have been sanctioned to 1,33,995 beneficiaries, of which Rs 24,809 crore have gone to 1,08,250 women business owners, Rs 3,976 crore to 19,310 SC beneficiaries, and Rs 1,373 crore to 6,435 ST business owners.
According to a report released earlier this year by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Intellecap, the consulting division of impact investing firm Aavishkaar Group, the estimated credit demand by women-owned very small companies (WVSEs) in the nation is worth Rs 83,600 crore. The report estimates that there are 15 million women-owned MSMEs in India who struggle with issues like poor access to funding, outdated technology and information, and inadequate infrastructure.
