EDII Introduces Micro-Skills Entrepreneurship Programme to Support 10,000 Women-Owned Green Enterprises

By: WE Staff | Saturday, 3 September 2022

A skill development and entrepreneurship programme for women-led green enterprises is being introduced in 100 districts across India by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), a training centre for entrepreneurs. The goal is to give 10,000 women the tools they need to launch and run MSMEs. At a roundtable discussion on the program's operating principles held on Friday at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi, the announcement was made.

The program's goal is to develop and support female entrepreneurs over the course of 1,000 days, mostly in Tier II and Tier III cities.

According to Sunil Shukla, the institute's director general, they will choose the program's recipients from among the women already engaged in green entrepreneurship, the students at the institution, and those attending other educational institutions that are EDII's partners.

According to Shukla, the emphasis will be on providing existing and future informal entrepreneurs with support so they can develop a business plan, obtain loans, and have access to institutional resources.

For its Micro Skill Development Programme (MSDP), EDII has partnered with corporations like Accenture, Facebook, Bayer Foundation, HSBC Bank, Walmart, ITC, Yes Bank, ONGC, and Amazon to develop a number of green businesses, including urban terrace gardening kits, bamboo crafts, mushroom cultivation, organic fertilisers, beekeeping, and biodegradable plates made from leaves.

Agriculture, food processing, healthcare, renewable energy, algae-based water pollution removal, handicraft, handloom, and organic farming, to name a few, would all be included in the programme.

“The duration of the programme would be 1,000 days as the mortality rate of new businesses is very high and the first three years are the most vulnerable for any business to sustain,” explained Shukla. 

Enrolling in the programme will assist the business owners in registering as MSMEs. “Our target is to register all the beneficiaries as MSMEs so they are able to access government schemes like Mudra and credit guarantee scheme. We will also get their Udyog Aadhar made and register them on the Government’s e-marketplace (GeM).”

“Rural entrepreneurship has the potential to power over 70 per cent of the Indian economy with the right set of skills and low-cost technology for the right set of people. Without ideas from rural areas turning into living enterprises there is no Aatmnirbhar Bharat,” he added. 

Raman Gujral, Director of Projects (Corporates), EDII, emphasised the increasing need for high-end, value-added goods and services on the market with little negative impact on the environment. “The need for sustainability in business applies to both big corporates and small enterprises. There is a need for newer innovations and eco-friendly practices both in rural and urban sectors,” he said.