Shivraj Chouhan Chairs Mumbai Meet to Boost SHG Credit Access

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Thursday, 3 September 2026

A meeting on Self Help Group (SHG)-bank linkages and individual business financing is planned for September 3, 2026, in Mumbai for enhancing credit facilities and strengthening financial support for rural entrepreneurs. The discussion would examine the current process of accessing credit and explore ways through which institutional money can be made available to SHGs and women-owned rural enterprises.

The discussion is expected to emphasize the importance of easily and readily available credit in enhancing the rural enterprises, creating more livelihood options, and allowing for women-owned businesses to become financially sustainable.

Key Highlights:

• ₹13.67 lakh crore credit has reached SHGs, strengthening rural women’s enterprises
• Over 10 crore rural women are mobilised through 93 lakh SHGs and federations
• Financial Inclusion 2.0 targets faster credit and stronger financing for women-led businesses

The meeting will be chaired by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development. Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications; Kamlesh Paswan, Minister of State for Rural Development; and the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister of Maharashtra will also participate.

Some of the major topics of discussion include the possibility of doubling the total credit portfolio of individual enterprises, increasing the average loan disbursal to Self Help Groups (SHGs), and reducing the timelines for loan processing and sanctioning.

This agenda will also focus on ways to provide linkage of credit to SHGs that remain outside the formal banking network, especially those functioning in areas difficult and unattended from geographical point of view. Strengthening cooperative credit institutions at the District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB) and Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) levels will also form a key part of the discussions.

The results of these deliberations are likely to affect the future course of action as per the vision of Financial Inclusion 2.0. These deliberations are intended to increase timely and sufficient institutional credit to SHGs, increase financial avenues for women entrepreneurship, and increase access to formal finance in rural areas of India. Through this financing gaps can be reduced and improved credit delivery mechanism can enable enterprise development.

In the process of achieving financial empowerment, banks have disbursed a cumulative of over Rs. 13.67 lakh crore in institutional credit by banks to SHGs, thus helping to grow the initiatives for entrepreneurship by women in rural India. This regular credit flow has helped the millions of women to engage in income generation activity and improve their livelihood conditions.

The conference is expected to see participation from key delegates of the RBI, Department of Financial Services, public and private sector banks, Regional Rural Banks, cooperative banks, NABARD, PFRDA, Central Ministries, and State Rural Livelihoods Missions. Participation from these sectors will ensure that the forum provides an avenue to improve coordination efforts between the various players working towards increasing rural credit access.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) initiative by the Ministry of Rural Development has created the largest ecosystem of community enterprises managed by rural women in India through its efforts to mobilize over 10 crore rural women into over 93 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs) and federations. The programme has created a well-established institutional architecture, enabling rural women to easily use banking and credit services.