Lok Sabha Question No. 2374 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-04
Subject: Measures to promote Women Entrepreneurs
Ministry: SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Asked by: Shri Aditya Yadav

## 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  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  PMJANMAN. 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.

*****