CoWE seeks flexible loans, STEM opportunities for women in Telangana
Says lack of property titles restricts women's access to traditional loan financing
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Telangana has 4.75 lakh MSMEs, of which 1.10 lakh are owned by women. The businesses led by women majorly do not figure as loss making businesses, the ground reality speaks for itself. If Telangana government wants to secure a significant position in the MSME landscape, it has to concentrate on supporting women-run industries - Soudhamini Prodduturi, president, CoWE
Hyderabad: United Nations Organisation call for gender equality by 2030 can be achieved by promoting and supporting women entrepreneurs. The Telangana government can extend its support after they have understood the issues women face at the ground. The first step towards lending a helping hand is holding proactive discussions with women organisations, said Soudhamini Prodduturi, president of CoWE (Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs).
According to Invest Telangana Portal, the State is home to around 26 lakh MSMEs. As per Udyam Registration Portal, the total number of MSMEs in Telangana from 2020 to 2023 stood at 4.75 lakh, of which 1.10 lakh are owned by women. “Of these lakhs of enterprises, the businesses led by women majorly do not figure as loss making businesses, the ground reality speaks for itself. If Telangana government wants to secure a significant position in the MSME landscape, it has to concentrate on supporting women-run industries,” the president told Bizz Buzz.
She assured that the government will be able to witness growth in the number of successful MSMEs in the State if it works on the recommendations given by women organisations such as CoWE. “While UNO has asked all the countries to state the measures taken up for women welfare, CoWE believes that gender equality can be achieved by promoting and supporting women entrepreneurship. The two focus area includes facilitating collateral-free loans, and reservations for women techies,” Soudhamini suggested.
One of the focus areas that CoWE works on is strengthening women enterprises by providing financial support. According to Soudhamini women do not have property titles in their name which can be pledged for seeking loans at financial institutions. Hence, she urged the State government to provide flexible loans, on the lines of Central schemes. “Access to loan in the absence of collateral is the first step towards achieving our mission. For this we are seeking the governments support,” she said adding further that CoWE has now decided to open business avenues for graduates from STEM.
“We are working on identifying industries for women engineers. There are various business opportunities in technology related industries. One of the many examples I can think of now is food technology. Some sort of reservation or quota from the government side would be helpful,” she added.
