More than 81% account holders are Women under Stand Up India Scheme

MUDRA:68% of loan accounts belong to women entrepreneurs

PMJDY:23.21 crore accounts out of 41.93 crore accounts belong to women

Ministry of Finance, in the past seven years has launched various Schemes which have special provisions for empowerment of women. These Schemes have financially empowered women to lead a better life and chase their dreams of being an entrepreneur.

As we are celebrating International Women’s Day , today , on 8^th March 2021, we take a look at various schemes initiated by the Ministry of Financewhich have benefitted the women in India.

Stand-Up India Scheme - Stand Up India Scheme was launched on 5 April 2016 to promote entrepreneurship at grass root level for economic empowerment and job creation. This scheme seeks to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to the underserved sector of people such as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Women Entrepreneurs so as to enable them to participate in the economic growth of nation.

The objective of this scheme is to facilitate bank loans between ₹ 10 lakh and ₹ 1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch of SCBs for setting up a Greenfield enterprise.

As on 26.02.2021, more than 81% i.e., 91,109 accounts with an amount of ₹ 20,749 crore have been sanctioned to women entrepreneursunder Stand Up India Scheme.

Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) - PMMY was launched on April 8, 2015 for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, MFIs and NBFCs.

Under the aegis of PMMY, MUDRA has created three products namely 'Shishu', 'Kishore' and 'Tarun' to signify the stage of growth / development and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit / entrepreneur and also provide a reference point for the next phase of graduation / growth.

As on 26.02.2021, about 68% i.e., 19.04 crore accounts with an amount of ₹ 6.36 lakh crore have been sanctioned to women entrepreneurs under MUDRA scheme since inception.

Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) - PMJDY was launched on 28th August 2014. It envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension.

As on 24.02.2021, 23.21 croreaccounts, out of the total 41.93 croreaccounts opened under the scheme belong to women account holders.

Women entrepreneurs' access to targeted bank credit strengthened through Stand Up India, MUDRA and Jan-Dhan inclusion measures. Government credit-linked empowerment schemes prioritize targeted bank lending to increase women's participation in entrepreneurship. The Stand Up India Scheme mandates branch-level loans to underserved groups including women for Greenfield enterprises, resulting in over 81% of sanctioned accounts held by women. Complementary programmes - the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, using stage-based microcredit products delivered by banks and non-bank lenders, and the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, providing universal basic accounts and related services - similarly show high female uptake and support expanded financial inclusion.