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www.microsave.net
Decoding government
support to women
entrepreneurs in India
The anatomy of entrepreneurship
support schemes
October, 2022
2
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
Foreword
NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) has facilitated the journey of
women entrepreneurs in India since its launch at the 8th Global Entrepreneurship
Summit in 2017. In doing so, WEP has not only acted as a one stop shop for women
entrepreneurs looking for support but also played a key role in bringing together
diverse stakeholders to support the agenda of advancing women entrepreneurship in
India.
Creating a robust ecosystem of support for women entrepreneurs is critical to bridge
the gender gap in entrepreneurship. India currently ranks 57th out of 65 nations, in
the Mastercard Index on Women Entrepreneurship (MIWE). It ranks 70th among 77 countries on the Female
Entrepreneurship Index. National surveys peg women entrepreneurship at 20% in the MSME sector. This
demonstrates the urgent need for policy-level action to step up efforts in this area.
Despite the setback from covid- 19 in the last two years, women entrepreneurs have shown their strength,
resilience and resourcefulness in not only running their own enterprises but contributing to covid response efforts
through large scale production of masks, PPE kits and other covid essentials. Every year, WEPs flagship Women
Transforming India (WTI) awards showcases the successful journeys of women entrepreneurs who are at the
frontiers of their fields from manufacturing, handicrafts, health and wellness to technology and automation.
Increasing the number of growth-oriented women entrepreneurs has a catalytic effect of women’s labour force
participation rates. However, this needs efforts to understand their needs at various stages of their
entrepreneurship journey and make investments in creating a robust ecosystem to fulfil these varied needs.
Out of the 6 pillars that WEP focuses on, research is an important area, aimed at identifying key areas that need
attention, by producing data and analysis that can support key stakeholders to understand women’s
entrepreneurship needs better.
This report is another effort in that direction, it fills a critical knowledge gap by helping us understand the length
and breadth of government of India’s existing support to entrepreneurs through a variety of central and state
government schemes. It shares insights on ecosystem needs that remain unserved or underserved and shares
recommendations on making all entrepreneurship schemes more accessible and effective for women
entrepreneurs.
As a part of this effort information on all central and state government entrepreneurship schemes will be
available on the advanced version of the WEP platform 3.0. The platform will have smart matchmaking
capabilities to match the relevant scheme with user’s profiles. This way WEP will be able to overcome
information asymmetry by seamlessly providing relevant information. We hope that this report will serve as a
useful tool for policy makers and stakeholders looking to invest in advancing women entrepreneurship in India.
The Report has been prepared by Sonal Jaitly and Lakshmi Sruthi Thangallapally of MicroSave under the Research
Scheme (RSNA - 2021) of NITI Aayog. The findings are that of the organisation. During the research undertaken
by the MicorSave team key support was provided by NITI team including Mr. Chintan Vaishnaav, Anthony Cyriac,
Ayesha, Preeti Syal, Saloni Tandon and Jayana Jain.
Anna Roy
Mission Director, WEP
3
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
Table of contents
Foreword................................................................................................... I
1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 5
1.1 Context ......................................................................................................... 5
1.2 About Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) ....................................................... 6
1.3 About this research .......................................................................................... 6
2. Women’s entrepreneurship landscape in India ....................................................... 10
2.1 Share of women-owned enterprises in all proprietary MSMEs and the states with the highest
number of wMSMEs ............................................................................................... 10
2.2 Share of wMSMEs rural vs urban and gender gap in employment by MSMEs ....................... 11
2.3 Share of women-owned MSMEs by size ................................................................... 11
2.4 Share of women-owned MSMEs by sector ................................................................ 12
2.5 Female entrepreneurs in India are not SAFE ............................................................ 14
3. Applying the ecosystem lens to female entrepreneurship ........................................... 19
3.1 Identification and definitions of the ecosystem needs ................................................ 21
4. Insights from the study .......................................................................................... 23
5. Recommendations ..................................................................................... 40
References ............................................................................................................ 45
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
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1. Introduction
5
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
1. Introduction
1.1 Context
Women’s participation in the economy is essential for sustainable economic development, gender
equality, and poverty alleviation. McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) estimates that India could boost its
GDP by USD 0.7 trillion by bringing 68 million more women into India’s workforce by 2025. The World
Bank reports that India could increase GDP growth by 1.5 percentage points by including 50% of the
women in the workforce. However, India’s female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) declined from
32% in 2005 to 19% in 2021, 27 percentage points less than the global average. This steady decline
1
in
FLFPR is attributed to many factors including increased enrollment of girls in higher education,
declining child labour, structural shift from agriculture sector post 2005. Further, decline in animal
husbandry in rural areas, fall in international demand for products of labor-intensive industries,
disproportionate burden of unpaid care work and lack of employment opportunities.
Women’s economic contribution in India accounts for 17% of the GDP, which is less than half the global
average. COVID-19 exacerbated the situation when women lost livelihoods and employment, income
from the business decreased, and the burden of unpaid care increased. UN Women reported that
during the first lockdown in 2020, 47% of women lost their jobs compared to 7% of men who were left
without jobs. Of the countries in the Central and East Asia region, the pandemic hurt female
entrepreneurs in India the most, with two-thirds of women
2
attributing recent business closures to the
pandemic.
Against this backdrop, India has further stepped up its policy efforts to improve the business
environment and create more income and jobs. India improved its position and stood 62nd in the
World Bank’s last ease of doing business ranking in 2019. India is now the third largest start up
ecosystem in the world. There is increased attention to accelerating women led technology start-up’s
and women’s enrollment in STEM. The All India Survey on Higher Education Report (2020)
3
indicates
an increase in women’s enrollment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as a
field of study. Evidence
4
suggests that businesses with at least one female founder have a more
inclusive work culture, employ 3x more women than men and generate 10% more cumulative revenue.
However, entrepreneurship by women in India has stagnated. Women own only 20% of all enterprises
in India. 82% of these women-led enterprises are micro units, run as sole proprietorships, while most
are concentrated in the informal sector. About 6.36 million
5
enterprises of the total 8.05 million are
in livestock, manufacturing, and retail trade. Studies suggest that available data over-represents true
entrepreneurship among women—10% to 30% of enterprises registered as women-owned are often not
run by women. In terms of technology based startups also categorized under MSME’s, RBI survey of
1,246 startups finds 5.9 per cent of the participating startups were founded by only females in
comparison to 55.5 per cent founded by only male founders. Only 38.6% had both male and female as
co-founders.
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
Female entrepreneurs face limited access to credit, capacity-building that remains concentrated in
limited sectors, lack of information, absence of networking, and low market linkages. These challenges
and adverse social norms impact their entrepreneurial ambitions and aspirations. The Government of
India has undertaken several initiatives to promote female entrepreneurship at different levels. NITI’s
WEP platform is a crucial central initiative to stem the stagnation of female entrepreneurship in India.
1.2 About Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP)
The WEP is a Government of India-backed initiative launched by the NITI Aayog in 2017 to promote a
conducive ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship in India. WEP intended to do this by becoming a
unified aggregator of relevant information and services. It would strengthen industry linkages and
increase awareness of existing programs among WEs. It specifically provides access to programs for a)
incubation and acceleration, b) entrepreneurship skilling and mentorship, c) marketing assistance, d)
funding and financial assistance, e) compliance and tax assistance, and f) community and networking.
Since WEP’s launch in 2018, more than 26,500 women have registered and benefitted from the
platform.
1.3 About this research
This research identifies aspects of women's
entrepreneurship where ecosystem need is felt. It
further offers ways to balance government’s efforts
in favor of an ecosystem-based approach in order to
promote women's entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur
faces multiple socioeconomic challenges that limit
their ability to use economic opportunities and
benefit from them. These challenges worsen for
female entrepreneurs. Evidence
6
suggests that
promoting women’s entrepreneurship requires
facilitating them through the most critical stages of
their entrepreneurship journey and creating a robust
entrepreneurial ecosystem that works equally well
for women and men. We emphasize “ecosystems”
here, as an isolated approach poses the risk of
further declining economic opportunities for women.
Entrepreneurial ecosystems
7
are much like biological
environments where different essential elements
(regulatory, cultural, and economic in this case)
interact with each other to form an optimal
environment for talented individuals and innovative
organizations to create value. The caveat here is
optimal integration and support. Such an integrated
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
system
8
to promote opportunity-oriented
9
entrepreneurship among women in high-value and high-
growth sectors is urgently needed.
Research Methodology
A conceptual framework based on an ecosystem lens was developed to anchor this research. This
framework is based on secondary literature review, it also draws from other existing primary research
done by WEP and MSC. The framework helps identify key entrepreneurship ecosystem needs and how
these needs are being fulfilled through existing central and state government schemes. Our research
identified six key ecosystem needs essential to creating growth-oriented female entrepreneurs. These
are: a) entrepreneurship promotion, b) access to finance c) training or skilling, d) mentoring and
networking, e) market linkages and f) access to business, legal, digital, and other higher-order support
services.
The Government of India has actively taken several steps to nurture and promote entrepreneurship in
India. The central and state governments have launched multiple programs and schemes to support
entrepreneurs and enterprises. However, not all the resources and services provided through
government entrepreneurship support schemes are equally accessible to enterprises owned by women
and men. This reflects in the poor quality
10
and quantity
11
of female entrepreneurship in India.
This research investigates how the Government of India’s entrepreneurship support schemes at the
central and state levels support WEs across the continuum of these six ecosystems needs. Central and
state schemes remain the key vehicle of support for women and the poorest of the poor who can use
entrepreneurship as a pathway out of poverty.
This research is based on an analysis of 70 central government schemes spread across 15 ministries
and 433 state schemes spread across 28 states. The desk review included analyzing information from
annual reports of ministries, scheme websites, circulars, orders and relavant institutional reports. The
research analyzed more than 1,800 websites to gather information on central schemes and state-
specific schemes. This study intends to fill a critical knowledge gap by decoding the range of support
the central and state governments have made available to entrepreneurs. It identifies gaps in design,
communication, and availability of support across all six essential needs of entrepreneurs. This
research will:
Outline the range of support available to entrepreneurs through central and state schemes
Understand which needs of the entrepreneurship ecosystem receive maximum, minimum,
adequate, or no support from the government
How schemes target female entrepreneurs
Future directions to plug the gaps in scheme-based support to entrepreneurs
The research is divided into three sections. The first section delineates the extent and depth of the
problem of the stagnating female entrepreneurship landscape in India. It reveals evidence that current
8
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
isolated approaches will unlikely narrow the existing gender gap in entrepreneurship—in fact, they
may further widen the gap. It further argues for the adoption of an ecosystem-based approach by
governments to support female entrepreneurship that will help WEs through key stages of their
entrepreneurship journey. The second section provides key insights from the research, covering all
central and state entrepreneurship support schemes. The third section discusses future directions
emerging from this research.
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2. Women’s
entrepreneurship
landscape in India
10
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
2. Women’s entrepreneurship landscape in India
India has 63 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), of which around 20% are women-
owned, employing 22 to 27 million people. India ranked 57
th
among 65 countries in the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs
12
(MIWE, 2021). Estimates suggest that by accelerating women's
entrepreneurship, India could create more than 30 million women-owned enterprises, potentially
creating 150 to 170 million jobs.
Out of the 432 million working-age women in India, only 19%
13
of women participate in any formal and
paid work. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) shows women’s total early-stage entrepreneurial
activity (TEA) rates are often high in low-income countries. Contrarily, India has an average TEA rate of
only 2.6%
14
for women. GEM reported that female entrepreneurs in India cited job scarcity as a critical
motivation for business creation as against the opportunity to grow a business and earn profits.
2.1 Share of women-owned enterprises in all proprietary MSMEs
15
and the states with the highest number of wMSMEs
The last NSS survey revealed India had 63.38 million MSMEs in the country. Out of them, 60.84
million (~96%) establishments are proprietary concerns. Women own only 20.37% among them. The
distribution of women-owned MSMEs varies across states. West Bengal (23.42%) has the highest
share of women led MSMEs, while Sikkim (0.04%) has the lowest. The survey findings indicate that
India’s southern states have a relatively more favorable ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship.
These five-state count among the top-10 states in terms of the number of establishments under
women-owned enterprises. Tamil Nadu leads with 10.37%, followed by Telangana with 7.85%,
Karnataka with 7.56%, Andhra Pradesh with 6.76%, and Kerala with 4%.
12.39 million
Women-owned MSMEs
(20.37%)
60.84 million
proprietary
MSMEs in
India
Figure 1: Share of wMSMEs and top-10 sates in share of wMSMEs, Source: MoMSME annual report 2021-22
23.42
10.37
7.857.566.966.766.676.47
4
3.07
0
5
10
15
20
25
Top-10 states with women led MSMEs
Percentage of women-led MSMEs across states
11
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
2.2 Share of wMSMEs rural vs urban
16
and gender gap in
employment by MSMEs
2.3 Share of women-owned MSMEs by size
17
Figure 3: Share of wMSMEs by size
1
,
Source: MoMSME annual report 2021-22
1
According to the MoMSME, the size of an enterprise is defined based on investment in plant and machinery or equipment
and annual turnover. Microenterprises have investments less than INR 10 million and annual turnover less than INR 50
million, small enterprises have investment less than INR 100 million and an annual turnover less than INR 500 million,
and medium enterprises have investment less than INR 10 million and annual turnover of less than INR 50 million.
More than 99% of all MSMEs are in the
micro sector. Most women -owned
enterprises in India are single-person
microenterprises. Only about 17% of
women-owned enterprises have
employed workers, of which 95%
operate with less than six workers. As
the size of the enterprise increases, the
proportion of women-led enterprises
decreases.
According to the Ministry of Micro, Small
and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) annual
report, rural areas have a slightly greater
share of women -owned enterprises
(22.24%) than urban areas (18.42%).
Employment provided by the MSME sector
suffers from a huge gender gap. It employs
76% male and only 24% female employees.
As of 2021, the MSME sector employed a
total of 110.98 million employees, of
whom 84.46 million (76%) were men and
only 26.49 million (24%) were women. The
distribution of female employees in MSMEs
is more in the rural sector (13.75 million)
compared to the urban sector (12.74
million).
Figure 2: Share of wMSMEs in rural and urban sector
Source: MOSPI, 2016, 2019
20.44
5.26
2.67
0
5
10
15
20
25
Micro Small Medium
wMSME share (%)
22.24
21.2
18.42
17.8
0 10 20 30
Rural enterprises
overall
Rural proprietary
Urban enterprises
overall
Urban proprietary
wMSME share (%)
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
2.4 Share of women-owned MSMEs by sector
18
Figure 4: Share of wMSMEs by sector
Source: MOSPI, 2018
Figure 5: Share of wMSMEs by activity
Source: Sixth economic census, 2015-16
34.3
65.7
Share of wMSMEs (%)
Agricultural activitiesNon-agricultural activities
45
8.7
7.4
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
ManufacturingTradingOther services
wMSME share (%)
13
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
Figure 6: Share of wMSMEs in non-agricultural activity, Source: Sixth economic census, 2015-16
Figure 7: Share of wMSMEs in agricultural activity, Source: Sixth economic census, 2015-16
As per the sixth economic census, 34.3% of all wMSMEs were involved in agricultural activities and
65.7% in non-agricultural activities. In the agriculture sector, most are involved in livestock (92.2%),
followed by forestry (4.5%), non-crop farming (1.9%), and fisheries (1.4%). In non-agricultural
activities, around 45% of establishments are in manufacturing activity. Other activities in the non-
agricultural sector are trading (28.57%), other services (8.8%), education (4.1%), and food and
accommodation services (4.2%). Around 22% of enterprises in the handicraft and handloom sector
are women-owned.
45.36
28.57
8.18
4.22
4.1
Share of wMSMEs in non-agricultural activities (%)
Manufacturing Trading Other servicesAccommodation and food servicesEducation
92.2
4.5
1.9
1.4
Share of wMSMEs in agricultural activities (%)
LivestockForestryNon-crop farmingFisheries
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
2.5 Female entrepreneurs in India are not SAFE
The MSME sector in India contributes to 30%
19
of India’s GDP and employs around 110 million people. In
India, about 89% of the women-owned enterprises operate all year round, 9%
20
are seasonal, and the
remaining 2% operate casually, which are neither perennial nor seasonal. A recent Standing Committee
on Finance report estimated that the MSME sector has a credit gap worth INR 20-25 trillion. Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reported that women in India and the Republic of Korea appeared to
face the most difficulty in accessing business financing compared to their male peers. Women-owned
MSMEs face challenges in accessing credit due to a lack of collateral and tangible assets, limited avenues
to prove creditworthiness, and perceptional biases against lending to female entrepreneurs or women-
led enterprises.
As most women-owned businesses are home-run, micro, and informal in nature, they have limited
exposure to market spaces and marketing skills. Female entrepreneurs need to deal with mobility and
logistics challenges, time poverty and unpaid care work, and safety and security issues to manage the
business and achieve the required growth for the enterprise. They also lag in terms of digital and
technical skills due to low literacy rates and lack of access to mobile and the Internet. MSCs SAFE
Framework helps understand key challenges responsible for the stagnating rates of female
entrepreneurship in India.
SAFE framework
This research has evolved the SAFE framework based on a rich database of evidence available on
challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in the country. It helps understand the challenges that
wMSMEs face in India.
15
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
Figure 8: MSC’s SAFE framework
16
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
Sustainable
Most women-led MSMEs remain subsistence-oriented rather than growth-oriented. They need a
consistent source of income rather than opportunities for growth and profits through entrepreneurship.
This need forces women to take up subsistence entrepreneurship. Factors that determine this choice
for women include limited economic opportunities, a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work at
home, and constraints on mobility and social interactions. Many women are home-based and piece-rate
entrepreneurs who depend significantly on intermediaries and contractors for market access.
These enterprises are highly susceptible to external shocks, such as COVID-19. A report by Bain
21
and
Company reveals that COVID-19 hurt almost 73% of women-run enterprises in India, while the revenue
of nearly 20% of female entrepreneurs dwindled to zero. Recent research by MSC
22
highlights that as
many as 82% of female-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) reported a decrease in
their income, compared to 72% of male-owned enterprises. They faced greater restrictions that made
them unsustainable, including decreasing demand, rising costs of inputs, inability to access markets,
and an increased burden of care work at home, among other factors.
Most female entrepreneurs are concentrated in sectors and industries highly affected by the pandemic
and digitization like micro and small businesses
23
in non-professional services, such as tailor shop
owners, dressmakers, shopkeepers and street vendors, arts and handicrafts vendors, and beauty-parlor
owners, among others.
Autonomous
Even when women own an enterprise, they may
lack the sole agency or autonomy to decide how to
run the business, prioritize investment in their
business, and control the use of income and profits
generated. The lack of intra-household decision-
making power, lower mobility, safety-related
challenges, and social norms dictate how
independently women can run their enterprises.
Often, women do not truly own or control many
women-led enterprises. They depend considerably
on men for key business decisions, procurement of
raw materials, pricing information, and market
access. Studies suggest female entrepreneurship is
overrepresented in numbers. MSC’s diaries
24
research reveals that adverse social norms hurt
how well a female business owner runs her business
independently.
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
Formal
95.6% of women’s enterprises are unregistered or informal. A high level of informality harms the growth
and resilience of their enterprises and their entrepreneurial rights. The level of effort and often the
drudgery involved in running such enterprises go unaccounted for and expose women to occupational
health hazards. Ample empirical research has shown that female entrepreneurs in the informal economy
face a higher risk of poverty than those in the formal economy. Informal economic units
25
also face
lower productivity and income (ILO).
Employment-generating
The MSME sector in India contributes 30%
26
of India’s GDP and employs around 111 million
27
people.
Women-led MSMEs create employment for 22 to 27 million
28
people. However, 95% of women proprietors
run with less than six workers, most being own-account or single-person enterprises (or self-employed),
and only 1.9% with six to 10 employees.
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3. Applying the ecosystem
lens to female
entrepreneurship
19
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
3. Applying the ecosystem lens to female
entrepreneurship
Several studies have repeatedly underlined the major role an enabling ecosystem plays in supporting
economic growth and job creation. Many national and international organizations corroborate this.
Most recently, the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (2019) spelled this out. Yet
governments and policy makers must first identify the critical needs of female entrepreneurs to
promote such an enabling ecosystem, besides addressing the structural barriers posed by adverse social
norms and gender-neutral and gender-blind policies and processes.
Based on the experience of the WEP platform, this research identifies six key needs related to the
ecosystem essential to promoting opportunity-oriented entrepreneurship among women. It underlines
that female entrepreneurs need a continuum of support throughout critical stages of their
entrepreneurship journey to ensure they survive and grow.
20
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
The process and challenges in women’s entrepreneurial journey
Figure 9: MSC’s female entrepreneurial process
21
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
3.1 Identification and definitions of the ecosystem needs
These six ecosystem needs are:
a) Entrepreneurship promotion, which includes creating awareness and knowledge of different
entrepreneurship opportunities;
b) Easy and affordable access to finance;
c) Training and skilling in technical and business skills;
d) Mentoring and networking from industry experts to guide and incubate budding
entrepreneurs and peer networking;
e) Market linkages with domestic and global markets;
f) Access to business, legal, digital, and other higher support services for better efficiency
and productivity.
Figure 10: Six critical ecosystem needs of an enterprise or an entrepreneur
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4. Insights from the study
23
Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
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4. Insights from the study
As the Indian government focuses on creating more employment, promoting entrepreneurship for women
remains one of the best pathways to ensure equitable growth. NITI Aayog’s WEP platform has successfully
played the role of key ecosystem facilitator for female entrepreneurship. However, its experience also
highlights that most WEs could not benefit from existing government schemes on entrepreneurship. This
research emphasizes that while we need more investment and capacity -building to promote
entrepreneurship among women, the first step is to ensure that WEs can access and benefit from the
wide range of existing support that central and state governments provide.
Governments must pay particular attention to ensure female entrepreneurs can equally access the
benefits of “all entrepreneurship support schemes” against only those that specifically target women.
This research mapped all such schemes with the six key ecosystem needs to understand the full extent
of existing government support to entrepreneurship that goes beyond popular flagship schemes. We
analyzed more than 1,800 websites to gather information on central schemes and state-specific schemes
and mapped 70 central schemes, 433 state schemes and 52 schemes from SIDBI and NABARD. The research
identified a detailed analytical framework to understand the nuances of the scheme’s design, target, and
access and grievance management process.
Governments must pay particular attention to ensure female entrepreneurs can equally
access the benefits of “all entrepreneurship support schemes” against only those that
specifically target women.
24
Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
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Figure 11: Research parameters for mapping central and state schemes supporting entrepreneurship
70 central schemes and 433 state schemes focus on supporting entrepreneurship
We find that 70 central government schemes spread across 15 ministries focus on providing support
directly or indirectly to the entrepreneur or enterprise across the six ecosystem needs. Similarly,
433 state government schemes offer state support for entrepreneurship across 28 states.
Seven states and three central ministries account for almost half of the schemes that
support entrepreneurship
The top three central ministries that together contribute 42 central government schemes (60%) are
the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (24), the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers
Welfare (10), and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (8). In the case of state
governments, seven states, that is, Odisha (41), Kerala (36), West Bengal (32), Assam (27), Rajasthan
(26), Tamil Nadu (22), and Telangana (21) together contribute 205 entrepreneurship support schemes,
which is 47.3% of all the entrepreneurship support schemes by state governments.
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Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
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Distribution of central schemes across ministries
Name of the ministry Number of schemes
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare 10
Ministry of Commerce and Industry 2
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region 4
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology 3
Ministry of Finance 2
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation 1
Ministry of Minority Affairs 2
Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises 24
Ministry of Rural Development 2
Ministry of Science and Technology 1
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 9
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment 2
Ministry of Textiles 4
Ministry of Tribal Affairs 2
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports 1
Figure 13: List of ministries and distribution of central schemes across ministries
Source: MSC’s research on central and state schemes supporting entrepreneurship, 2022
18
14
27
18
11
15
18
11
45
14
36
14
2
1313
23
41
17
26
5
22
21
9
12
10
32
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chattisgarh
Goa
Gujarat Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jharkand
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Telangana
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand West Bengal
No. of schemes per state
Figure 12: Share of schemes per state,
Source: MSC’s research on central an
state schemes supporting
entrepreneurship,2022
Almost half of the schemes are
from seven states
7 states account
to 47.3% of total
schemes
26
Decoding Government support to women entrepreneurs in India
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The focus of most central and state schemes skews exclusively toward two
ecosystem needs
Around 45% of the central schemes provide support for access to finance, and 27% provide support in
training and skilling ecosystem needs as their primary domain of support. The majority of state
schemes provide support for access to finance and access to business support services (refer to Figure
15). Only 3% of state schemes and 4% of central schemes have mentoring or networking as the primary
support domain. A recent survey
29
finds that 88% of respondents said access to a seasoned mentor can
profoundly boost their career success. Meanwhile, 67% of the female respondents in non-metros stated
lack of mentorship is a critical challenge in being an entrepreneur. Similarly, only 18.5% of central and
around 7% of state schemes, respectively, target the market linkage ecosystem as a primary or
secondary support domain. Market linkages and support for business mentoring are among the most
ignored support areas in all entrepreneurship support schemes.
Nearly 56% of total state schemes, or 243 out of 433 state schemes, have a secondary domain of
support. Half of the secondary domain support also revolves around providing access to finance. Market
linkage is the least targeted ecosystem need as a primary and secondary domain. A majority of the
central schemes have entrepreneurship promotion as their secondary domain of support.
Market linkages and support for business mentoring are among the most ignored support
areas in all entrepreneurship support schemes.
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Both state and central schemes provide a range of services under each ecosystem need, which the
image below depicts.
Figure 14: List of usual support services provided under each ecosystem-based need
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Figure 15: Share of schemes that support each ecosystem need
Source: MSC’s research on central and state schemes supporting entrepreneurship, 2022
A limited number of schemes focus on targeting women and special groups
Most central schemes target both male and female beneficiaries. However, some central schemes have
special provisions for female beneficiaries. Schemes, such as StandUp India, the Central Sector
Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (CSISAC), the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation
Programme (PMEGP), and the Jan Shikshan Sansthan scheme have special provisions for women like
additional subsidies, quota in the number of beneficiaries and quota in fund utilization.
Access to
business
support
services
Access to
finance
Entrepren
eurship
Promotion
Market
linkages
Mentoring
/Networki
ng
Training/s
killing
Central-Primary Domain 4 31 8 5 3 19
Central-Secondary Domain 521 8 11 6
State-Primary Domain 167 147 31 20 14 54
State-Secondary Domain 47 131 30 10 11 14
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Number of state schemes
Ecosystem needs
Number of central schemes
Distribution of schemes across ecosystem needs
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Only 31 state schemes (7% of schemes) exclusively target women, which means only female
beneficiaries can apply for the scheme. Only 7.6% of all schemes that target both male and female
beneficiaries have special provisions for female beneficiaries. These provisions relate to age
relaxation, higher rates of subsidy, low-interest rates, additional subsidies, special incentives, a quota
for female beneficiaries, and a quota in fund utilization for development or promoting
entrepreneurship among women.
Seven schemes from five states—Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh
have special provisions for transgender people. Kerala has one scheme exclusively for transgender
people. Regarding supporting persons with disabilities (Divyangjan), only one central scheme, Jan
Shikshan Sansthan, especially targets differently-abled individuals to provide skill training.
However, the research does not include three entrepreneurship schemes, which focus on access to
finance for differently-abled persons, run by the National Handicapped Finance and Development
Corporation (NHFDC). The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (MoSJE) has more than three
corporations or autonomous bodies that exclusively target entrepreneurship support for Scheduled
Tribes (STs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Backward Classes (BCs).
At the state level, Meghalaya and Rajasthan have one scheme each that targets the differently abled.
Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra have one scheme each that provides special support to
differently-abled beneficiaries. In India, women comprise 48% of the total population. The country has
around 27 million people with disabilities, of whom around 12 million are women. According to the
2011 census, 4,87,083 people identify themselves as transgender. The percentage of entrepreneurship
support schemes that target these special groups is negligible when compared to their share in the
population.
Figure 16: Share of schemes as per target beneficiary, Source: MSC’s research on central and state schemes
supporting entrepreneurship, 2022
*Third parties: Any institution or organization that promotes entrepreneurship or supports MSMEs in any form
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Schemes do well with a sector-agnostic approach; however, we need an emphasis
on sectors that may require particular focus
More than half of the central and state schemes are sector-agnostic, which benefits entrepreneurs and
enterprises working in all sectors. However, we find a special focus on sectors like agriculture, allied
activities, and manufacturing, given the concentration of most MSMEs in this sector. Out of the 14
central schemes in the agri and allied activities
2
sector, 10 are from the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmer’s Welfare. In contrast, Odisha has the highest number of schemes in this sector regarding state
schemes. Notably, a negligible number of central and state schemes have incentives related to
sustainability or green initiatives.
The state schemes focus mainly on manufacturing and agri and allied sectors. More than half of the
state schemes support target beneficiaries from any sector or industry. Kerala and Odisha have the
highest number of schemes in the manufacturing sector. The top three states that have the highest
number of sector-agnostic schemes are Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Rajasthan.
Figure 17: Share of schemes as per the target sector
2
Agri and allied activities includes all industries related to agriculture like agricultural farming, animal husbandry,
horticulture, floriculture, fisheries, coir industry, food processing, dairy farming, beekeeping, etc.
Between 1981 and 2019, the share of the service sector in total employment increased
from around 19% to 47%, yet we hardly find any schemes focusing on service sector
entrepreneurship.
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Agri and allied activities still play a vital role in India’s economy. We find that 20% of schemes target
this sector. Between 1981 and 2019, the share of the service sector in total employment increased
from around 19% to 47%,
30
yet we hardly find any schemes focusing on service sector entrepreneurship.
Nearly half the states lack any special schemes that target the service sector. We do not see many
schemes that support entrepreneurship in the digital economy
31
or looking at sectors poised for high
growth in industry revolution 4.0.
32
Figure 18: Share of schemes per state based on the target sector
Source: MSC’s research on central and state schemes supporting entrepreneurship, 2022
Most schemes directly support the entrepreneur or the enterprise
Entrepreneurship schemes either directly target the entrepreneur or the enterprise or can be availed
by enterprise employees. Many schemes are also delivered through third-party government-based
bodies or other institutions like banks through which the scheme supports eligible entrepreneurs.
Around 71% of all central schemes directly target entrepreneurs and enterprises. Almost 23% of
schemes channel support indirectly through third parties. Most state schemes target entrepreneurs
(48%) and enterprises (46%). States like Odisha, West Bengal, and Kerala lead in support to
entrepreneurs, whereas Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala lead in schemes that support
enterprises.
The basket of services provided directly to entrepreneurs and enterprises usually comprises financial
incentives like grants, capital support, term loans, reimbursements, and subsidies. Non-financial
13
7
19
6
4
13 13
4
18
6
15
12
4
3
8
19
2
3
16
8
5
3
4
16
3
2
2
0
5
10
15
20
25
No. of schemes
State
State-wise distribution of schemes based on the target sector
Agri and allied activities Manufacturing Sector agnostic Service
-
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support under schemes comes in the form of technology upgrades, quality assessment support,
intellectual property rights (IPR), marketing infrastructure, market access, incubation facility, skill
training, capacity building, etc.
The labor force in enterprises usually receives support through services like skill training, allowances,
and stipends, among other benefits. Third-party institutions include alternate investment funds,
universities or colleges that host incubation centers, special purpose vehicle (SPVs) to develop
marketing infrastructure, skill training institutions, and other institutions that support entrepreneurial
activity in the country. Under entrepreneurship support schemes implemented through third parties,
the government usually provides financial support to these institutions through funds and grants to
develop industrial parks, MSME clusters, marketing hubs, and technology centers, among other
support.
Similarly, 96% of the schemes directly target the entrepreneur or enterprise at the state level. Around
4% provide support indirectly through third parties or support to labor in the enterprise. Around 71 %
of central schemes directly impact entrepreneurs or enterprises. The remaining 29% of schemes
support entrepreneurs and enterprises indirectly through third parties and labor in an enterprise.
Figure 19: Share of schemes as per the target audience
Source: MSC’s research on central and state schemes supporting entrepreneurship, 2022
*Third parties: Any institution or organization that promotes entrepreneurship or supports MSMEs in any form
States lag behind the center in giving online access to schemes
We mapped how many central schemes are accessible online against those accessible only offline or
both to understand the degree of ease of access to schemes. In the online mode, at least one step of
the scheme-availing process can be done through a web page or web portal. The offline mode is a
process where one can avail benefits of a scheme only by submitting an offline application through the
state, district, local government offices, or banks.
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We find that even those schemes accessible online do not involve an end-to-end online process. Some
schemes involve a combination of both online and offline processes. One can register and apply online,
but submission of supporting documents like the detailed project report (DPR) and business plan are
done offline through various government-appointed nodal offices. Nearly half of the central schemes
are accessible online through web portals and scheme-related web links like the Suvidha portal and
the Mudra Yojana portal. Those applying for the remaining 46% of schemes need to apply offline by
enrolling or submitting applications at the designated nodal office or authority of the scheme. In the
case of state schemes, only around 27% of schemes offer an online application procedure. The
remaining 73% are only accessible through offline mode.
Figure 20 : Percentage of central and state entrepreneurship schemes accessible online and offline,
Source: MSC’s research on central and state schemes supporting entrepreneurship, 2022
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The user journey of scheme beneficiary remains broken
Figure 21: Journey map of scheme provider and beneficiary of the scheme
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This research views a scheme as a service and citizens as users of the scheme-based service delivered
by their government. The user journey of availing benefits of the scheme-based service remains broken
at multiple levels due to inefficiencies in the scheme availing process. Users face several common
difficulties before applying for schemes. These include a lack of detailed information on eligibility,
the quantum of assistance, the procedure to apply, and varied local interpretations of written or
notified eligibility criteria and functional details of contact persons.
In the online mode, users struggle to access scheme-related information. They often find it challenging
to enroll for a scheme, as many scheme web pages are non-functional. Most scheme information is
available only in English in non-Hindi-speaking states. In the case of Hindi-speaking states, the
information is available in English and Hindi. Yet, the information is available only in Hindi for some
state schemes from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, etc.
Other major problems users face while accessing benefits under these schemes are a complete lack of
information on the scheme’s turnaround time (TAT), no or limited avenues of a grievance resolution
mechanism (GRM), and no information on the procedure to raise grievances. Users have no information
and guidance available and may lack the documents needed to apply for a scheme.
Our research revealed that many prominent scheme benefits are channelled through banks, wherein
the beneficiary needs to approach the banks to submit applications to access the support. A majority
of the state schemes are accessible only through offline mode. Yet they do not provide guidance on
how to apply for the scheme. For example, many schemes require the beneficiary to contact district
officers of concerned departments, or the concerned general manager of the district or DIC to apply
for that scheme. However, they do not provide any proper contact details of the concerned authority.
Our research revealed good practices that ministries and states follow to increase users’ accessibility
(in terms of easy availability of information) and usage of schemes. Information on accessing schemes
is available more clearly online in states like Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal
Pradesh, and Goa. These states have an online portal for users to check information on all relevant
schemes through which the state supports entrepreneurs and MSMEs. Their portals host relevant details
of the schemes, institutions that support entrepreneurship, and enrolment links if the scheme supports
applications online.
Users face several common difficulties like lack of detailed information on eligibility, the
quantum of assistance, the procedure to apply, and varied local interpretations of written
or notified eligibility criteria and functional details of contact persons.
Many schemes require the beneficiary to contact district officers of concerned
departments, or the concerned general manager of the district or DIC to apply for that
scheme. However, they do not provide any proper contact details of the concerned
authority.
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Figure 22: Streamlining scheme delivery through Antyodaya Saral portal, Source: Antyodaya Saral
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Figure 23: Identification of needy beneficiaries through Suvidha system portal, Source: Suvidha Karnataka
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Development banks are uniquely poised to drive female entrepreneurship through
market-making interventions
Besides central ministries and state governments, this research mapped the schemes of two key
development finance institutions—SIDBI and NABARD. Both institutions have mandates to
promote entrepreneurship in the MSME and agri and allied sectors, respectively. SIDBI and
NABARD offer 52 schemes (40 SIDBI schemes and 12 NABARD schemes).
Most of the total schemes—43 out of 52—directly target entrepreneurs and enterprises. Around
81% of SIDBI and NABARD schemes primarily support the access to finance ecosystem need. Both
organizations also offer schemes that support other ecosystem-related needs. However, the
focus on supporting other needs remains low, such as support to promote entrepreneurship,
training or skilling, mentoring and networking, and access to business support services as a
primary or secondary support domain under a scheme.
Only 33% of the 52 schemes are accessible through the online mode. The remaining 67% of the
schemes are available in offline mode. The schemes target both male and female entrepreneurs
and enterprises. SIDBI and NABARD have played a pivotal role in developing microcredit in India.
They implement and host some of the government’s most critical entrepreneurship initiatives
and funds. For instance, SIDBI implements the StandUp India scheme and hosts a fund of funds
(FoF) for startups. Similarly, NABARD implements critical schemes for rural entrepreneurs and
hosts the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). No gender-disaggregated data is
publicly available on the impact of these big-ticket funds on women-owned enterprises against
those owned by men.
Their schemes and projects indicate that both SIDBI and NABARD are uniquely placed to promote
market-making interventions that encourage more financial institutions to offer higher-size
credit and credit-plus services as a bundle of offerings to female entrepreneurs.
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5.Recommendations
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5. Recommendations
Provide a continuum
3
of support across six entrepreneurship needs
Entrepreneurship promotion using public resources needs a fundamental transformation, from a
set of fragmented schemes to an integrated system that can provide a continuum of outcome-
oriented support across the six ecosystem needs. Evidence
33
shows that entrepreneurs need a
continuum of business support services to ensure the survival and growth of their enterprises.
MSC’s recent work finds that entrepreneurs are more willing to take risks, explore high-growth
sectors, and invest in enterprise growth when they have the assurance and confidence of
external institutional support and guidance.
The research identified six ecosystem needs essential to business growth and survival. Many
government schemes provide support in silos, usually focused on either access to finance or
training. An integrated approach that supports an entrepreneur’s complete early-stage
enterprise journey can deliver more high-growth and sustainable enterprises.
Understanding that this continuum of support will differ according to the entrepreneurs’ stage,
size, gender, sector, and geography is essential. Similarly, some ecosystem-linked needs may be
more pronounced than others in different states. The support needs to be selective and mainly
target opportunity-oriented female entrepreneurs. This selective and targeted approach can be
a catalytic approach to ensure that these high potential female entrepreneurs create more jobs
for other women. Local rather than disconnected central organizations may provide it better.
State-wise mapping of key entrepreneurship support organizations and investment in building
the capacity of key local organizations in all geographies is essential. Instead of providing support
through multiple schemes, central and state government schemes should converge at some point
to offer a full continuum of sustained
34
early-stage incubation and acceleration support.
Drastically increasing the number of women-focused incubators and accelerators is essential.
Adopt a scheme lifecycle approach to make entrepreneurship schemes more effective
Schemes are the prime vehicle for delivering public services to citizens, in this case,
entrepreneurship support services. Adopting a scheme lifecycle approach in which the
government administration pays attention to the beneficiary’s journey as a “user” throughout
the life of the scheme, can give a better perspective on understanding the gaps and where this
user journey is broken, resulting in low uptake and effectiveness of schemes. The scheme
lifecycle approach should pay special attention to gender intelligent and behaviorally informed
design of the schemes, followed by formulation, delivery, implementation as per TAT,
3
Continuum of support means providing a coherent series of support, sequenced as per the stage, need
and sector of the enterprise.
Entrepreneurship promotion using public resources needs a fundamental
transformation, from a set of fragmented schemes to an integrated system that can
provide a continuum of outcome-oriented support across the six ecosystem needs.
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monitoring, and grievance resolution mechanisms. It should have inbuilt mechanisms to seek
feedback of scheme users, which will also help understand the effectiveness and impact.
Schemes with online access could improve user experience if they:
Enhance the UI, UX, ease of access, and use of information
Integrate multilingual content and use of voice, video, and regional languages to create
awareness of schemes, their eligibility criteria, the process of access, and grievance
resolution
Integrate with key government portals and platforms
Provide a checklist of supporting documents required
Specify the TAT for receiving the benefit
Provide alerts and SMS-based application tracking
Offer personalized user login and the option of storing user’s documents and certificates
Display FAQs for all the available services and schemes
Offer options for feedback and suggestions for users to inform about desirable services
or content
Enable easier last-mile access to all entrepreneurship schemes
It is critical for governments to enable convenient and easy last-mile access to all
entrepreneurship support schemes. Beneficiaries should have an option for end-to-end digital as
well as physical or assisted access to all schemes. Our research revealed the scheme had
considerable information asymmetry and lacked details on how to apply, where to apply, and
whom to contact to avail of the benefits under the scheme.
We also found that access points to provide last-mile access and assistance in enrolling for
entrepreneurship support schemes are completely missing. A strong village-level frontline force
should enable physical and assisted access to entrepreneurship support schemes at the last mile.
The frontline force could comprise a combination of business correspondents, post office
functionaries, and CSCs or VLEs—such access is currently available only for select schemes.
Women could especially benefit from a female frontline functionary who can assist in smooth
access to government schemes, as demonstrated by frontline female CSC and BC agents. Frontline
functionaries like the Common Service Centers can be vital for delivering government services and
schemes in rural India. Reports suggest that CSCs helped the government provide digital literacy
to 45 million rural people in India under the Prime Minister Grameen Digital Saksharta Abhiyan
(PMGDISHA). CSCs acted as last-mile access points for scheme implementation by facilitating
enrolments and registrations under different schemes for citizens. For example, more than 50% of
Beneficiaries should have an option for end to end digital as well as physical or assisted
access to all schemes.
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the Ayushman Bharat registrations are through CSCs, and CSCs also helped extend the Fasal Bima
Scheme for 70% of non-loanee farmers. However, only a handful entrepreneurship support
schemes can be accessed through the CSCs.
Improve the targeting of female entrepreneurs in schemes, and the collection and reporting
of gender-disaggregated data for schemes
Gender norms severely constrain female entrepreneurs across all segments. An overarching
national entrepreneurship policy for women is needed to guide all sectors to improve the startup
and success rates of women-led enterprises. It should also support the graduation and
formalization of many WEs in the informal sector. The existing schemes should make special
provisions for targeting female entrepreneurs.
Very few schemes report gender-disaggregated data on their uptake and effectiveness. The
scheme design should integrate gender disaggregated data analytics into the outcomes of these
schemes, to capture trends, and potential reasons for poor regional performance, in order to build
customised solutions for these regions. It is essential to collect, report, disseminate and use
gender-disaggregated data on schemes to understand their effectiveness and impact on
enterprises owned by men as against those owned by women. The central government should
include quality of support provided for women entrepreneurs and women-owned enterprises as a
criterion in entrepreneurship rankings, like the India Innovation Index, Startup ranking and ease
of doing business index.
Conclusion
As per McKinsey, some 90 million workers in India will be looking for gainful nonfarm work opportunities
between
35
now and 2030, based on current demographics and possible transitions of workers out of
agriculture. An additional 55 million women could enter the workforce by 2030 if their long-standing
underrepresentation is at least partially corrected. Promoting women’s entrepreneurship is a powerful
vehicle that can speed up India’s journey to becoming a $5 trillion economy. However, this needs
unlocking the bottlenecks that impede their entrepreneurship journey taking a comprehensive
ecosystem view. This research demonstrates that the first step starts with ensuring greater and
effective access to existing government allocated support for women entrepreneurs. It also puts a
spotlight on the skewed focus of the current support on only a few ecosystem needs. In conclusion we
reiterate that effective access to a continuum of support, across the critical stages of entrepreneurship
journey is essential to transform the landscape of entrepreneurship to look more formal, growth
oriented and diverse where both women and men are equal participants.
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Limitations:
The data for the schemes have been collected from information publicly available on the official
websites of the respective state department and other affiliated bodies.
This research recognizes that “ecosystem needs” also include supportive attitudes, policies and
a much broader external environment. However, for the purpose of the research we have
chosen to narrow down the focus on six critical needs of an entrepreneur
The schemes and scheme information used for the research are updated as of July, 2022.
Many ministries have separate schemes under autonomous corporations and bodies, which are
not included in this paper.
We excluded the NRLM, as it is a separate mission and also has state missions to support and
promote rural entrepreneurship.
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