**Executive Summary**
On April 7, 2026, NITI Aayog released the second edition of the report “From Borrowers to Builders: Women and India’s Evolving Credit Market,” developed in collaboration with WEP, TransUnion CIBIL, and MicroSave Consulting. The report reveals that women now hold a ₹76 lakh crore credit portfolio, representing 26% of India's total system credit. This highlights a significant shift from basic financial inclusion to progression-led participation in formal retail and business-purpose lending.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Credit Portfolio Growth**
* The total credit outstanding to women increased from ₹16 lakh crore in 2017 to ₹76 lakh crore in 2025.
* Women’s credit exposure has expanded 4.8 times since 2017, with credit penetration rising from 19% to 36%.
* The number of credit-active women borrowers grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% between 2017 and 2025.
* **Shift Towards Commercial and Asset-Building Loans**
* Commercial credit to women business borrowers grew at a CAGR of 31% (2022–2025), significantly outperforming the 17% growth rate of overall commercial credit.
* There is a visible transition from microfinance to individual retail and commercial loans, with 19% of active Microfinance Institution (MFI) borrowers now holding such products.
* While personal and gold loans remain the most accessed, housing loans are seeing encouraging growth, indicating a rise in asset ownership among women.
* **Geographic and Digital Trends**
* Credit access is expanding geographically, with northern states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh showing high growth alongside established southern and western states.
* Rapid digitization of identity, payments, and underwriting is reducing entry barriers, helping women transition from informal to formal financial systems.
* **Future Potential**
* India has approximately 45 crore credit-eligible women, representing a significant opportunity for further market expansion.
* The report utilized data from 16 crore credit-active women and primary research with 161 rural nano-entrepreneurs to provide a comprehensive assessment of the ecosystem.
**Impact Analysis**
**Women Borrowers and Entrepreneurs**
**Impact:**
They are moving beyond entry-level credit toward more complex financial products like business and housing loans, leading to deeper economic integration and increased asset ownership.
**Action Required:**
Continue transitioning from informal borrowing to formal, structured financial systems to build resilient enterprises and financial capability.
**Financial Institutions (Banks, MFIs, and Credit Bureaus)**
**Impact:**
There is a massive market opportunity to serve nearly 45 crore credit-eligible women. Institutions are seeing a shift in portfolio composition as MFI borrowers graduate to retail and commercial loans.
**Action Required:**
Leverage Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for underwriting and loan servicing while utilizing sex-disaggregated data to address existing gaps in credit access.
**Policy Makers and Government (NITI Aayog, WEP, MSME Ministry)**
**Impact:**
The convergence of DPI and formal credit systems has successfully transformed how women’s economic participation is recorded and financed.
**Action Required:**
Focus on sustaining the momentum by strengthening the enabling environment to ensure increased credit participation translates into long-term economic contributions.
Key Entities Referenced
NITI Aayog: The primary policy think tank of the Government of India that launched the report and leads the initiative on women's credit market evolution.
From Borrowers to Builders: Women and India’s Evolving Credit Market: The central policy report detailing the expansion of women's credit exposure and their transition from entry-level credit to business-purpose lending.
Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP): The initiative under whose aegis the report was prepared, focused on supporting and diversifying women’s participation in the formal economy.
Financing Women Collaborative (FWC): A specific collaboration initiated by WEP to address data gaps regarding sex-disaggregated data on women’s access to formal credit.
TransUnion CIBIL: The credit information company that collaborated on the report and provided the longitudinal credit bureau data essential for the market analysis.
NITI Aayog
NITI AAYOG LAUNCHES REPORT ON “FROM
BORROWERS TO BUILDERS: WOMEN AND
INDIA’S EVOLVING CREDIT MARKET”
Report published in collaboration with WEP, TransUnion
CIBIL, and MicroSave Consulting
Women hold ₹76 lakh crore credit portfolio, accounting for
26% of total system credit
Posted On: 08 APR 2026 1:15PM by PIB Delhi
CEO, NITI Aayog released the second edition of its report “From Borrowers to Builders: Women and
India’s Evolving Credit Market” on 7th April 2026 in New Delhi. NITI Aayog Programme Directors
Neelam Patel (Agriculture Technology/Rural Development & Panchayati Raj), Rajib Kumar Sen (Health
& Family Welfare/State Finances/ SDGs/ WCD), Ishtiyaque Ahmed (Industry & Foreign Investment),
Sonia Pant (Education/ Services & Economic Intelligence Unit/ Skill Development, Labour &
Employment) and NITI Aayog DDG Swapnalee Bhattacharya, Ministry of Micro, Small, & Medium
Enterprises Joint Secretary Mercy Epao, TransUnion CIBIL MD & CEO Bhavesh Jain, and MicroSave
Consulting Senior Partner Akhand Tiwari were present in the launch.
The report highlights that women borrowers in India now hold a credit portfolio of Rs 76 lakh crore,
accounting for 26% of the total system credit. It further notes that women’s credit exposure has expanded
4.8 times since 2017, indicating a shift from access-led inclusion to progression-led participation in the
formal credit ecosystem.
Underscoring the importance of expanding women’s access to formal credit, CEO, NITI Aayog, Nidhi
Chhibber said, “Economic development advances when participation in markets becomes broader, deeper
and more efficient. The convergence of DPI and formal credit systems has significantly transformed how
economic participation is recorded and financed. The findings of this report reflect how women are
increasingly shaping and benefitting from these shifts. Importantly, women borrowers are moving beyond
entry-level credit towards retail and business-purpose lending, indicating strengthening financial
capability and deeper economic integration.”
The report prepared under the aegis of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) was prepared by
TransUnion CIBIL and MicroSave Consulting (MSC).
Anna Roy, Programme Director, NITI Aayog, and Mission Director, WEP, stated, “The scale and
diversification of women’s participation in formal credit signal a meaningful shift in India’s economic
landscape. What is particularly encouraging is not just the increase in access, but the way women aremoving across credit segments and engaging more actively with formal financial systems. Sustaining this
momentum will require continued focus on strengthening the enabling environment—so that increased
participation translates into more resilient enterprises and deeper economic contribution over time.”
The report notes that between December 2017 and December 2025, the number of credit-active women
borrowers registered a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9%, while credit penetration among
women increased from 19% to 36%. The total credit outstanding to women grew from Rs 16 lakh crore in
2017 to Rs 76 lakh crore in 2025. With nearly 45 crore credit-eligible women in India, the potential for
further expansion remains significant, the report observes.
The report stated that growth has been driven particularly by commercial credit, with credit to women
business borrowers registering a CAGR of 31% between 2022 and 2025, compared to 17% for overall
commercial credit. The report also highlighted a gradual transition of microfinance borrowers towards
individual retail and commercial loans, with 19% of active Microfinance Institution (MFI) borrowers now
holding such loans.
The report further notes that the geographical spread of women’s credit access is expanding, with northern
states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh showing increased growth alongside southern and western states.
Personal and gold loans continue to be the most widely accessed products, while housing loans are
witnessing encouraging growth, indicating rising asset ownership among women.
Rapid digitization across identity, payments, underwriting and loan servicing have the potential to reduce
entry barriers and enable women’s transition from informal borrowing to formal, structured financial
systems, the report highlighted.
The report is based on longitudinal credit bureau data of approximately 16 crore (160 million) credit-
active women, complemented by primary research with 161 rural women nano-entrepreneurs, providing
both quantitative and behavioural insights. This year, the report also incorporates microfinance data,
making it a comprehensive assessment of women’s access and progression within the credit ecosystem.
The report builds on a collaboration initiated by WEP in 2025 under its Financing Women Collaborative
(FWC) to address gaps in the availability of sex-disaggregated data on women’s access to formal credit,
including trends, borrower behaviour and progression within the credit ecosystem.
Read the full report here: https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2026-04/From-Borrowers-To-Builders-Wom
en-and-India-Evolving-Credit-Market.pdf
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