NITI Aayog & India SME Forum Launch A Million Women Arise To Empower Women

By: WE staff | Friday, 7 March 2025

• NITI Aayog and India SME Forum launched the "A Million Women Arise" initiative
• The initiative aims to empower women entrepreneurs across India
• Ankita Pandey, Director of Ministry of MSME, spoke at the launch event

NITI Aayog and the India SME Forum launched the "A Million Women Arise" initiative to empower women entrepreneurs across India. At the launch event, Ankita Pandey, Director of the Ministry of MSME, emphasized that women-owned businesses represent 35 percent of India's six crore registered MSMEs. However, these entrepreneurs continue to face significant challenges, including gender bias and limited market access.

She shared, "The Ministry of MSME is dedicated to bridging these gaps through initiatives focused on formalization, mentorship, capacity building, and integrating e-commerce."

Anna Roy, principal economic advisor at NITI Aayog and mission director of WEP, highlighted, "The Women Entrepreneurship Platform is a public-private collaboration that unites key ministries, including MSME, to support women entrepreneurs. By consolidating existing programs, our goal is to build an integrated support system offering access to finance, markets, compliance assistance, skills development, mentorship, and networking."

Vinod Kumar, President of the India SME Forum, stated, "Through our partnership with NITI Aayog, we aim to expand WEP’s initiatives to millions of aspiring women entrepreneurs, offering them the knowledge and support necessary to build thriving businesses."

At the event, the India SME Forum also established a strategic partnership with IndiGo by signing a Memorandum of Understanding. This collaboration seeks to offer MSMEs improved travel solutions, fostering their growth and mobility.

"The partnership will provide Forum members with exclusive travel perks, customized allowances, and seamless connectivity to aid in their business growth. IndiGo will offer specialized travel solutions designed to improve accessibility, lower costs, and create growth opportunities for SMEs across India," the statement added.