Government Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs in India

Chasing the dream of a successful business enterprise is no longer a distant possibility due to the flourishing set of government schemes for women entrepreneurs. Devised to fill the financial and institutional gap, the programs are aimed at providing invaluable support through collateral-free lending and subsidized interest rates, as well as helping through much-needed training and mentoring.

22,804 Views | Updated on: Sep 10, 2025

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Importance of Women’s Empowerment in India

The empowerment of women is more than a social goal. It is an economic imperative for India. The country cannot become a global powerhouse without it. Giving women the opportunity to achieve their full potential is beneficial to the entire nation. Various government schemes for women entrepreneurs that help in empowerment, particularly employing the entrepreneurship aspect come with indisputable benefits, such as:

A Direct Catalyst for Economic Growth

Women are nearly half of India’s population. They are an immense, untapped reservoir of talent and economic power. Increasing the number of women in the workforce and supporting female entrepreneurship will unleash significant growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The mathematics is simple. The greater the empowerment, the more business, employment, and innovations.

Driving Financial Inclusion and Poverty Alleviation

A financially independent woman invests in her family. This is a fact. The poverty rate consecutively falls when women earn more and control their own finances. Her family sees better nutrition. Health improves. Living standards for the whole household go up. This is how you break the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next.

The Multiplier Effect on Social Development

An educated and economically independent woman multiplies her success across society. The link is clear. An empowered mother is better equipped to raise healthier and better-educated children. This effect snowballs, creating a more skilled and capable future generation. The entire nation’s human capital gets stronger.

Fostering Innovation and Inclusive Growth

When women take part in the economy, it brings new perspectives. It adds different leadership styles and innovative solutions. Businesses led by women frequently serve different market needs. They also create more inclusive workplaces. This is not about social justice. It is about building a more resilient, balanced, and competitive economy.

Government Schemes for Women Entrepreneur

Time and again, the Indian government has taken significant steps to increase awareness amongst women regarding advantageous government schemes for women. Let us explore the various government schemes for women entrepreneurs:

Beneficial Monetary Schemes For Women Entrepreneurs

The government has launched several government schemes for female in India. For example, the Bhartiya Mahila Bank (BMB) business loan scheme is for women who wish to start their businesses. The scheme provides loans up to ₹20 crores for women-owned manufacturing companies at an interest rate of 10.15%. It also offers collateral-free loans up to ₹1 crore for micro and small enterprises.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana provides funding to the unfunded, catering to the financial needs of micro and small entrepreneurs who lack access to traditional banking systems. This woman entrepreneur scheme recognizes the potential of small enterprises as vital contributors to economic growth and job creation.

TREAD (Trade-Related Entrepreneurship Assistance And Development) Scheme

The Government of India introduced the Trade Related Entrepreneurship Development Assistance Scheme (TREAD) with the primary goal of fostering women entrepreneurs.

The scheme’s core objective is to empower economically disadvantaged women by enhancing their technical skills and entrepreneurial capacities through comprehensive support services. Among the challenges faced by these women, obtaining credit stands out prominently.

Recognizing the difficulty that impoverished women encounter in accessing credit, this government schemes for women in India address this issue by making credit available through responsible NGOs. These non-profit organizations play a crucial role in managing the funds and ensuring that the recipients not only receive financial support but also benefit from training and counseling.

Mahila Shakti Kendra

This government-sponsored program was launched in 2017 to financially empower women by providing skill development support, digital literacy, employment, and more. Each Shakti Kendra (at national, state, district, and block levels) offers an interface for rural women to avail themselves of benefits via training and capacity building.

Mahila-E-Haat For Women Entrepreneurs

The Ministry of Women and Child Development governs this program. Started in 2016, Mahila-E-Haat is a bilingual marketing platform that uses technology to enable budding women entrepreneurs, self-help groups, NGOs, and others to promote their products and services.

Stree Shakti

Stree Shakti provides a personal loan to help women expand their businesses. Women must own 50% of the business to qualify for this loan and are eligible for loans up to ₹50 lakhs under this program. This government yojana for women makes it simple for them to run a firm, boosting income flow.

Mudra Yojana

The Mudra loan program, a governmental effort within India, strives to foster entrepreneurship and extend financial aid to micro and small enterprises. It places particular emphasis on empowering and advancing women entrepreneurs, contributing to the enhancement of women’s entrepreneurial endeavors within the nation. Mudra loans designed for women are accessible with simplified criteria, and loans up to ₹10 lakhs do not necessitate collateral. Furthermore, the program extends preferential interest rates to female entrepreneurs, rendering it an appealing choice for individuals aspiring to initiate or broaden their business ventures.

Economic Empowerment Of Women Enterprises And Start-Ups By Women

This initiative, established under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, offers an incubation and acceleration program designed for women micro-entrepreneurs, facilitating the launch of new ventures and the expansion of current ones. Currently, the program is actively running in the states of Assam, Rajasthan, and Telangana.

Stand-Up India Scheme

The Stand-Up India Scheme represents a governmental initiative that aims to foster entrepreneurship within women and marginalized groups. Its focus lies in facilitating financial support through bank loans, ensuring the provision of loans to both a scheduled caste (SC) or scheduled tribe (ST) borrower and a female borrower for the initiation of new ventures. In situations involving non-individual enterprises, it mandates that either an SC/ST entrepreneur or a female entrepreneur must hold a minimum ownership and controlling stake of 51%. This program enables female entrepreneurs to access loans from ₹10 lakhs to ₹1 crore, empowering them to commence or enhance their small-scale enterprises.

Women’s Savings Bank Accounts

Apart from offering the regular savings bank account feature, banks allow women to secure their funds in specially-designed savings accounts that categorically fulfill the financial and investment needs of Indian women today and host competitive features as per modern lifestyle expectations.

Banks further offer significant discounts, cashback rewards, gifts, etc., for women who use their savings bank account credit or debit card to shop. The offer also applies to spending on food, wellness, entertainment, etc.

Lesser Interest On Loans Taken By Women

Many leading banks provide home loans to women at lower interest rates. In some cases of joint home loans, the banks also offer discounted loan rates if the woman is the first applicant for the specific loan.

Typically, the difference in the rate of interest is nearly 0.05%. In addition, women also get discounted car loans from banks as compared to their male counterparts. The net interest savings across the loan period allow women to save more, provided the interest rate remains unchanged throughout the loan tenure.

This is even more beneficial when families take a large loan via a female applicant. Apart from low interest rates, some banks also waive any loan processing charges for women.

If the property is in the name of a woman, some states in India offer financial benefits to women in the form of a lower stamp and transfer duty in case of sale deeds, conveyance deeds, and gift deeds. A few states also completely exempt the stamp and transfer duty on real estate transactions for women.

For instance, in Delhi, the stamp duty charge for a sale deed where a woman is a property buyer is 4%. Meanwhile, the stamp duty for a man is 6%. Similarly, the fee for women is lower than for men regarding conveyance and gift deeds. Further, some municipal corporations also let go of the property tax if the property is in a woman’s name.

Credit Guarantee Fund Trust For Micro And Small Enterprises (CGTMSE)

The initiative launched by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the Ministry of MSME aims to offer collateral-free financing solutions to micro and small enterprises. This program encompasses both new and existing enterprises. The Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) was established to implement this scheme. Under this scheme, eligible borrowers can access credit facilities of up to ₹200 lakh without the need for collateral security or third-party guarantee, contingent upon the project’s viability. The guarantee coverage varies, with Micro and Small Enterprises owned or operated by women receiving an 85% guarantee cover, while other borrowers are eligible for up to 75% coverage.

Udyam Shakti Portal

The Udyogini scheme aims to foster self-reliance and empower women through economic development, offering support for self-improvement. This initiative assists aspiring female entrepreneurs by providing loans with favorable interest rates, in contrast to the exorbitant rates in the private sector, establishing a reliable lending source. Eligibility is limited to those with a family income below ₹40,000 annually, with a focus on encouraging loans in the trade and service sector, capped at ₹1 Lakh.

Annapurna Scheme

This financial assistance is targeted at women in the food catering industry who are in the early stages of establishing their small-scale enterprises. The loan serves as essential capital for these women entrepreneurs, enabling them to acquire necessary equipment and utensils and set up trucks, among other requirements. Within the framework of this women’s loan program, participants can sell packaged food items and snacks, a common and successful business avenue for women adept at managing household culinary tasks. This enhances their sales potential, providing an opportunity for improved capital and access to new products, surpassing what they could otherwise afford. The loan limit for this scheme is ₹50,000.

Benefits of Government Schemes for Women

With the support of government schemes, women entrepreneurs reap many benefits, as they enable them to solve fundamental obstacles, enabling them to create and expand sustainable businesses.

Enhancing Access to Capital

These initiatives give much-needed financial leverage by countering the biggest obstacle: access to capital. This usually incorporates the conveyance of collateral-free loans, lenient interest rates, and direct subsidies, which reduce the cost of beginning a new venture and mitigate the financial risk of beginning a new venture. This ensures that women-led businesses are not hindered by inadequate start-up capital.

Fostering Entrepreneurial Acumen

With the belief that capital is not sufficient, these schemes have considerable focus on capability building and mentorship. They offer training institutions that have structured courses based on key skills that include financial literacy, business management, digital marketing, and regulatory compliance. Such emphasis on skills provides women with the technical and managerial skills required to overcome, with conviction, the intricacies associated with the competitive world of business.

Facilitating Market Integration and Linkages

These initiatives help to fill the gap between production and the consumer since they enables market integration. They allow women-owned businesses to showcase their products, access national and international supply chains, and utilize e-commerce to increase consumers. This support is critical in the capacity to empower small and medium-sized enterprises to scale and achieve great visibility.

Building a Supportive and Inclusive Ecosystem

All these benefits consecutively develop a more inclusive and friendly business and entrepreneurship sphere. The government also establishes special lines of funding, training, and market access, which go a long way to instill confidence among women as they enter the world of business. Besides fueling the success story of individuals, this also plays an important role in economic diversification, the creation of new or more genuine jobs, and in the overall growth of the Indian economy.

Final Thoughts

Women in India are progressing in all spheres. By utilizing government programs and financial perks, it is now time for women to achieve complete financial independence. These programs and efforts support and encourage female entrepreneurs, help women secure their lives, families, and health, and eventually help them reach their financial goals.

Due to their tax exemption benefits, most programs also enable women to save more money on taxes. Even though India needs to take more critical measures to empower the country’s women, such initiatives prove there is hope for a better tomorrow for women.

FAQs on Government Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs

What are the key government schemes available for women entrepreneurs in India?

There are numerous significant government programs that are provided to assist women in business. The Stand-up India Plan provides substantial loans of ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore. At a smaller scale, the micro-loans offered by Mudra Yojana have a limit of ₹10 lakh without security. You also have the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and the Mahila Udyam Nidhi Scheme, which provide both financial and subsidies.

What is the Stand-Up India Scheme for women?

The Stand-up India scheme requires the lending of banks. Each bank branch has to lend ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore of funds to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC), one Scheduled Tribe (ST), and one woman borrower.

How does the Mudra Yojana support women-led businesses?

Mudra Yojana provides cash advance of up to ₹10 lakh, which is to extend to collateral free loans. There are loans at three levels: Shishu, Kishor, and Tarun. Although it is available to everyone, the scheme is of utmost importance to women entrepreneurs. It is focused on small and micro non-farm enterprises.

Are there specific schemes for rural women entrepreneurs?

Yes, several schemes target rural women. The National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) empowers rural women by organizing them into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and providing access to micro-credit. Other initiatives like the Mahila Coir Yojana and the Udyogini Scheme also offer financial assistance and skill development support specifically for setting up micro-enterprises in rural areas.