Parliament Question: Measures to promote Women Entrepreneurs

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2374 ANSWERED ON 04/08/2025 MEASURES TO PROMOTE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS 2374. SHRI ADITYA YADAV: Will the Minister of SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government agrees with the view that women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) should be increased in the county; (b) if so, the details of the steps taken by the Government and other stakeholders to focus on improving access to finance, providing mentorship and skills training and promoting policies that support women entrepreneurs, such as preferential procurement and streamlined registration processes; and (c) if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (c) The Government is aware that women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) should be increased in the county. The Government through Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has taken various initiatives to increase the participation of women in MSMEs in the country. The details of such initiatives are as under: (i) Special drives for registration of women-owned MSMEs. (ii) To support women entrepreneurs, the Public Procurement Policy mandates that 3% of annual procurement by CPSEs/Ministries/Departments must be made from women owned micro and small women entrepreneurs (iii) Udyam Registration Portal was launched on 01.07.2020 which is fully online, paperless and based on self-declaration. Those with PAN details can register on Udyam and those without PAN/GSTN can register on Udyam Assist Portal (UAP) launched on 11th January 2023. Both registrations are eligible for Priority Sector Lending (PSL) and to avail of benefits of Schemes of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. (iv) To support women entrepreneurs under Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises, the following two provisions have been introduced for micro and small women entrepreneurs w.e.f. 01.12.2022: a. Guarantee coverage of up to 90% as against the 75% for others; and b. 10% concession in annual Guarantee fees (v) Ministry of MSME implements Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) which is a credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping traditional artisans and rural/urban unemployed youth. Out of the total PMEGP beneficiaries,39% are women and they are provided higher subsidy (35%) vis-a-vis non-special category (upto 25%). (vi) To encourage entrepreneurship among women, Ministry of MSME implements ‘Skill Upgradation and Mahila Coir Yojana’ under Coir Vikas Yojana, which is an exclusive training programme aimed at skill development of women artisans engaged in the Coir sector. (vii) Participation of women entrepreneurs in trade fairs under Procurement and Marketing Support Scheme is subsidized to the extent of 100% vis-a-vis 80% for other entrepreneurs. (viii) Ministry of MSME has launched ‘PM Vishwakarma’ Scheme on 17.09.2023, to provide a number of benefits to the traditional artisans and crafts people including women, engaged in 18 trades. (ix) The Ministry has launched the awareness campaign ‘Yashasvini’ to create awareness among existing and aspiring women entrepreneurs with various schemes of M/o MSME providing, them with continuum of handholding, mentorship and capacity building. Further, the Government recognizes the importance of offering crucial skills, knowledge and networking opportunities to women entrepreneurs to support them in overcoming societal, economic and structural barriers, lack of access to business opportunities and training. The Government has taken up various initiatives to support women in entrepreneurship through training, advocacy and access to credit and market linkages. These initiatives include interventions to build entrepreneurial mindsets and capabilities among women, support the growth of women-led enterprises, and provide mentoring and handholding support for women entrepreneurship development. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) through its autonomous organizations, namely National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) and Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) has taken various initiatives to promote entrepreneurship development and to strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystem including access to finance amongst all sections of the society, including women across the country. The details of such initiatives are at Annexure-I.ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PART (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2374 ANSWERED ON 04.08.2025 REGARDING “MEASURES TO SUPPORT WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP” The details of various initiatives being implemented by MSDE for women entrepreneurs are as under: (i) Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN) - MSDE through its autonomous institutes, namely NIESBUD and IIE has been implementing the skilling and entrepreneurship component of Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyaan (PM JANMAN) – a scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs for upliftment of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), since March 2024. The project is being implemented with support of Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) in 18 States across the country under which a total of 500 VDVKs are to be set up. As on 29.07.2025, total of 37,161 beneficiaries have been trained under Entrepreneurship Development Program out of which 31,560 were women. (ii) Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan - Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarshh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) – a scheme of Ministry of Tribal Affairs wherein MSDE has been assigned two specific interventions: • Establishing Skilling Centres in 30 tribal districts and • Providing training for capacity building and business development of 1000 VDVKs and tribal groups. NIESBUD and IIE is implementing trainings of the VDVKs in line with the implementation of PM- JANMAN. The target for FY 2024-25 is to provide training in 50 VDVKs as per the list shared by TRIFED. 15 VDVKs are in North Eastern Region and remaining 35 VDVKs are in rest of the country. As on 30.06.2025, a total of 30 participants, including 15 female participants, have been trained out of the targeted 100 under the Master Trainer of Trainers (ToT) program. (iii) Swavalambini programme: MSDE in collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI Aayog, launched the Swavalambini- a Women Entrepreneurship Programme in February 2025 in the North Eastern States of Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. The programme aims to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among female students through Entrepreneurship Awareness Training (EAP) for 1,200 students, Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) for 600 students. NIESBUD and IIE are the implementing agencies for the program. Furthermore, Swavalambini aims to recognise and reward successful women entrepreneurs emerging from the programme through the Award to Rewards Initiative of Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI AAYOG. The programme will leverage workshops, seed funding, and structured mentoring to support the growth of women-led enterprises. (iv) Establish, Develop and Manage EDC and Incubation Centers (IC) in North East Region’s Educational Institution - Under this Project, IIE shall Establish, Develop and Manage Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDC) and Incubation Centers (IC) in North East Region’s Educational Institutions. The key features of the Project includes Establishing, developing and managing 30 EDCs and 4 ICs in 8 states of NER, Identifying and training 600 mentors from 30 target districts, Identifying and training 3600 youth from 30 target districts, Incubating 100 business ideas in 4 ICs, Supporting 900 business ideas in 30 EDCs through convergence and Seed fund for top 50 incubates in 4 ICs. Till 31.05.2025, IIE has provided training to 632 faculty members, trained 912 participants through EDP training out which 600 are women. *****