Lok Sabha Question No. 489 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Women Entrepreneurs under Startup India Campaign
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Vishnu Dayal Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 489. TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 06 th  DECEMBER, 2023.

## WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS UNDER STARTUP INDIA CAMPAIGN

## 489.   SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether the Government has any programmes or policies to promote women entrepreneurship in both rural and urban areas;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along  with  the  major  achievements  of  these programmes since their inception;
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the Government has fixed a target for women entrepreneurs under startup India campaign in the country, especially in Jharkhand; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री ( श्री सोम प्रकाश ) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI SOM PARKASH)

- (a) & (b): The  Government  is  implementing  various schemes/programmes to promote women entrepreneurship in both, rural and urban areas. The details  of  the  same  along with  major  achievements  are  placed  at Annexure-I .
- (c): Does not arise.
- (d) & (e): In order to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups across the country, the  Government launched the Startup  India initiative on 16th January 2016. The Government maintains data specific to recognised startups with at least one-woman director. As per eligibility conditions  prescribed  under  G.S.R.  notification  127  (E)  dated  19th February 2019, entities are recognized as 'startups' under Startup India initiative  by  the  Department  for  Promotion  of  Industry  and  Internal Trade (DPIIT). As on 31 st  October 2023, a total of 1,14,902 entities have been recognised as startups, of which, 54,569 startups have at least onewoman director. Specifically, for the State of Jharkhand, there are a total of  1,066  DPIIT  recognised  startups,  out  of  which  501  startups  have at  least one-woman director.

## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 489 FOR ANSWER ON 06.12.2023.

## Programs Implemented to promote Women Entrepreneurship

- i. To promote flow of both equity and debt to women led startups, 10% of the fund (Rs 1000 crore) in the Fund of Funds for Startups Scheme operated by SIDBI is reserved for women led startups. Under said scheme, as on 30 th  April 2023, 11 women-led AIFs have been supported under FFS and approximately Rs. 2,000 crores have been invested in around 110 women-led startups.
- ii. Women  Capacity  Development  Programme  (WING)  is  a  unique  Capacity Development  Program  for  women-led  startups,  to  identify  and  support  both aspiring and established women entrepreneurs in their startup journeys. The workshops are open to variety of business sectors including Tech, Construction, Product, Machine,  Food,  Agriculture, Education, etc.  The workshops served as a platform for emerging women entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to discuss the key challenges facing women entrepreneurs. WING workshops have created a conducive environment to share best practices and experiences in overcoming challenges and to gain insights learned from the business models adopted in the Indian context. A total of 24 workshops were conducted across 9 States, benefiting more than 1,300 women entrepreneurs.
- iii. Virtual  Incubation  Program  for  Women  Entrepreneurs  were  conducted  in collaboration with Zone Startups to support 20 women-led tech startups with pro-bono acceleration support for 3 months.
- iv. Startup India Hub: A webpage dedicated to women entrepreneurs has been designed  on  the  Startup  India  portal.  The  page  includes  various  policy measures for women entrepreneurs by both Central and State Governments.
- v. ASCEND Startup Workshop Series and Women for Startups Workshops: The Government organized a series of startup workshops - ASCEND (Accelerating Startup  Calibre  &  Entrepreneurial  Drive),  for  the  entrepreneurs,  aspiring entrepreneurs,  and  students  from  North-eastern  region.  In  addition,  the workshops are being conducted with a specific focus on women entrepreneurs across  the  north-eastern  states.  The  workshops  were  organized  during  the month of November 2022 and December 2022 in Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. The workshops witnessed  participation  of  over  11,000  ecosystem  stakeholders  such  as government  officials,  startups,  aspiring  entrepreneurs,  investors,  academic institutions, etc.
- vi. Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP): The Government launched WEP in 2018  as  an  aggregator  platform  with  the  aim  to  overcome  information  as ymmetry in the women entrepreneurial ecosystem. By showcasing all existing initiatives and providing domain knowledge it works towards empowering both prospective and present women entrepreneurs.
- vii. SuperStree Podcast: With a vision to inspire a greater number of women across all  regions  in  India  to  become  entrepreneurs,  the SuperStree  video  podcast series has been launched on women in the Indian Startup Ecosystem. More than  8  podcasts  have  been  released  to  spread  awareness  related  to innovations from women and to further strengthen women entrepreneurship in the country.
- viii. Through its various awareness programmes and capacity building programmes organized  by  the  Government,  and  through  print  media  and  social  media platforms, the Government also creates awareness about the existing schemes which  support  micro,  small  and  medium  entrepreneurs,  including  women entrepreneurs.
- ix. 5  out  of  the  75  Bioincubation  centres  of  BIRAC  (under  BioNEST&  EYUVA schemes)  are  dedicated  centres  for  women  entrepreneurs  that  provide incubation  space  and  mentoring  (business,  IP,  legal)  specifically  to  women students/scientists/entrepreneurs as well as support women Self Help Groups (SHGs).  Over  200  women  led  projects  have  been  supported  under  various BIRAC schemes.
- x. BIRAC's WInER Award fellowship (Women In Entrepreneurial Research), in partnership  with  TiE-Delhi  NCR.  Under  this  award  programme,  women entrepreneurs working on ideas that impact large sections of the society are awarded  Rs.  5  lakhs  each  along  with  other  benefits  including  mentoring, handholding, an opportunity to go through an intensive accelerator programme. 60 women founders have been awarded over four editions of the fellowship.
- xi. Under  SAMRIDH  scheme  MeitY  has  a  dedicated  women  led  accelerators named Zone Startups supporting the cohort of 5 women led startups.
- xii. Under the Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) Scheme  of  MeitY,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  Institutions  of  Higher Learning to strengthen their Technology Incubation Centres for enabling young entrepreneurs to create technology startup companies for commercial exploitation  of  technologies  developed  by  them.  Under  the  scheme,  34 entrepreneurs are women.
- xiii. The States' Startup Ranking on support to startup ecosystems is primarily an exercise to identify good practices across all the Indian states. The evaluation includes a specific provision to gauge the formulation and implementation of policies and special incentives to promote women-led startups in each state. The  particular  action  point  has  witnessed  active  engagement  and  thereon reporting of measures undertaken by participating States and UTs.
- xiv. To identify the depth, quality and spread of innovation, inclusivity and diversity, and  entrepreneurship  in  country,  the  Government  instituted  the  National Startup Awards ('NSA'). The winners of NSA have emerged from Bengaluru, Delhi,  Hyderabad,  Chennai,  Mumbai,  Mysuru,  Bhopal,  Gurugram,  Kochi, Lucknow, Margao, etc. All four editions of the NSA (2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023) have  featured  a  special  category  and  award  for  women-led  startups.  NSA recognizes and promotes startups across 20 sectors and special categories
- xv. Ministry  of  MSME has taken several steps to support women owned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country to increase women's participation. The details of the programs implemented in this direction are as under:
- a)  Special drives for registration of women owned MSMEs under Udyam Registration Portal have been undertaken during 2022-23 and more than 2 lakh women owned MSMEs have registered on the portal during the special drives.
- b)  Various fiscal incentives are provided to women entrepreneurs under the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises.
- c)  To  encourage  entrepreneurship  among  women,  the  Ministry  also implements a number of programs such as:
19.  'Skill  Upgradation & Mahila Coir Yojana' under Coir Vikas Yojana, which is an exclusive training program aimed at skill development of women artisans engaged in the Coir sector.
20.  The Ministry also 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. Under the scheme, women are provided higher subsidy (up to 35%) vis-àvis non special category (up to 25%)
21.  Participation of women entrepreneurs in trade fairs under Procurement & Marketing Support Scheme is subsidized 100% visa-vis 80% for other entrepreneurs.

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