Promotion Of Women Entrepreneurship Will Be A Pragmatic Forward Step

With yet another Women’s Day fast approaching, it’s time to consider some women-related statistics to figure out if these numbers reflect any new trends as regards wom-en empowerment. The number of women availing credit in India has increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 per cent between CY 2019 and 2024. While consumption loans continue to be the preferred products held by women bor-rowers, the report’s insights show that more women are also availing business loans, as per a recent study by TransUnion CIBIL, Women Entrepreneurship Platform’s (WEP of Niti Aayog and MicroSave Consulting (MSC). The number of new loan accounts opened last year by women for business purposes (business loans, commercial vehicle and commercial equipment loans, loans against property) saw a growth of approximately 37 lakh, with disbursement totalling Rs. 1.9 lakh crore, compared to approximately eight lakh new loan accounts for business purposes and total disbursement of Rs. 0.7 lakh crore in 2019. While the number of loan accounts increased by over four times since 2019, they accounted for only three per cent of overall loans availed by women in 2024. In the meanwhile, consumption loans remain the most preferred credit product among women borrowers.

Their share with active consumption loans in their wallet grew to 36 per cent by De-cember 2024, from the 33 per cent in December 2019. Agri and gold loans combined were held by 34 per cent of women by December 2024 compared to 32 per cent in De-cember 2019. Business loans witnessed the highest share shift, with 16 per cent of women holding a live business purpose loan by December 2024, compared to nine per cent in December 2019. Now juxtapose these numbers with the thinking in government circles, more so Niti Aayog. The Centre recognises that access to finance is the primary enabler for women entrepreneurship. The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) continues to work towards building an inclusive ecosystem that fosters financial litera-cy, access to credit, mentorship, and market linkages. However, ensuring equitable fi-nancial access requires a collective effort. The role of financial institutions in designing inclusive products tailored to women’s needs, along with policy initiatives that address structural barriers, will be instrumental in accelerating this momentum.

To achieve this goal under the aegis of WEP, Financing Women Collaborative (FWC) has been constituted. We seek more financial sector stakeholders to join FWC and con-tribute to this mission. That’s not all. Niti Aayog feels that encouraging women entre-preneurship is one way of ensuring employment opportunities for women entering the workforce in India. It can work as a viable strategy for accelerating equitable economic growth of our economy. Promoting women’s entrepreneurship could create employ-ment opportunities for 150 to 170 million people while driving women’s participation in the labour force. One also keep in mind that nearly 27 million women borrowers in India were actively monitoring their credit in December 2024, which is 42 per cent higher than the nearly 19 million women, who were doing so in December 2023. This clearly indicates that women borrowers are increasingly recognizing the importance of credit health as a cornerstone of financial empowerment. And that certainly is a posi-tive sign.