Parliament Question: Impact of the WEP on Women-Led Enterprises and Economic Empowerment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4085 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 IMPACT OF THE WEP ON WOMEN-LED ENTERPRISES AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

4085. SHRI GANESH SINGH:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

(a) the details of progress made under the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) since its launch including the number of women entrepreneurs supported through funding linkages, mentorship, incubation, skilling and networking initiatives, State- wise and district-wise;

(b) the details of major outcomes achieved in terms of enterprise creation, business expansion, employment generation and enhanced access to finance for women-led enterprises;

(c) the details of partnerships established with financial institutions, incubators, industry bodies and Government schemes to strengthen the women entrepreneurship ecosystem; and

(d) whether any impact assessment has been undertaken regarding the contribution of WEP towards increasing women's participation in entrepreneurship and economic development and if so, the details thereof along with the details of beneficiaries, State and District-wise particularly in Madhya Pradesh including Satna? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS & PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) & (b) The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) functions as an aggregator platform that brings together Government, financial Page 1 of 2institutions, incubators, industry associations, academic institutions and ecosystem partners to support women entrepreneurs. WEP does not directly implement programmes and instead, serves as an ecosystem platform that has developed multiple pathways to enable end-to-end support to women entrepreneurs throughout their entrepreneurial journey. WEP extends support through its marquee assets, namely the Knowledge Portal, Mentorship Platform, Award to Reward (ATR) programme, WEP State Chapters, and Community Platform. The status is as follows:

• Over 1.1 lakh registered users have joined WEP to access entrepreneurship-related resources and ecosystem support. • WEP has successfully launched State Chapters in 5 States to strengthen State-level entrepreneurial ecosystems.

• The WEP Knowledge Portal hosts 1,395 curated resources to support women entrepreneurs with relevant information and opportunities.

Further, in collaboration with the WEP Platform of NITI Aayog, the M/o Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched the Swavalambini- a Women Entrepreneurship Programme in February 2025 in the North-Eastern States of Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram;

Uttar Pradesh and Telangana as a pilot project. The programme aims to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among female students through Entrepreneurship Awareness Training (EAP) for 1,200 students, and out of these students providing Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) for 600 students.

Furthermore, Swavalambini aims to recognise and reward successful women entrepreneurs emerging from the programme through the Award to Rewards Initiative of WEP Platform of NITI Aayog.

(c) WEP partners with different Organisations, Industry bodies, Financial institutions etc for specific programmes based on thematic areas and beneficiary requirements.

(d) Yes Sir, WEP has engaged Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to undertake a multi-year impact assessment and performance evaluation of the platform. In Madhya Pradesh, the Empowering Rural Women Kirana Store Entrepreneurs programme is being implemented by WEP, across three districts—Vidisha, Raisen and Barwani—and has covered 120 women entrepreneurs.

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