Role of Financial Institutions in the Development of Micro and Small Women Enterprises in India

Abstract

Women are capable of becoming major contributor in improving financial status of their family and society and then help in reducing poverty if they start their own business. This, in turn, will make the country an Economic superpower. But, in India they remain a minor group among all entrepreneurs as they face stiff obstructions in their growth in the male dominated society. Problems found by women entrepreneurs are different from other entrepreneurs and can be summarized as an overburdened with family work leaving little time for developing business, No readily available finance, no mentor to support new business ideas, lack of appropriate security in case of sudden shortage of funds. It was found based on national survey conducted in 2017 that women owned enterprises comprise about 10% of all Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India. But this number can be improved substantially provided regular and adequate financial support and mentoring is provided to the micro and small women entrepreneurs. It was also found that if we were to harness the still largely untapped potential of women’s entrepreneurship and provide them financial support, it could lead to creation of more jobs, economic growth and, more diverse and representative small business communities. To overcome these financial problems of women entrepreneurs of micro and small sectors, Government of India have asked Banks/financial institutions to provide finance to them. This paper describes in details, the various schemes launched by financial institutions for providing finances to micro and small women enterprises.