Women make half the population of the country and as they decide to venture into entrepreneurship, a revolution in the sector is certainly assured. As women entrepreneurship is estimated to produce around 150-170 million job opportunities by 2030 and this would make about 25 percent of new jobs that are required in the present scenario. Despite, the benefit of women empowerment to the country’s economy, the overall male entrepreneurs have exceeded 50 million but, the female entrepreneurs are just around eight million and mark 13.76 percent of the total entrepreneurship in India.
It is evident that the small businesses have evolved to be the backbone of India which still holds the tag of a developing country and strongly needs the support of the SMEs. According to sources, about 63.4 million units of MSMEs are found across the country. These small businesses are approximately contributing nearly 6.11 of the manufacturing GDP, 24.63 percent of the GDP is obtained from service activities and about 33.4 percent of the country’s manufacturing output is achieved.
A study conducted by Mckinsey Global Institute has unveiled that India’s GDP could elevate in the range of 16 -60 percent by 2025, provided women contribute on par with men is building the country’s economy. However, with that, the country’s economy may get an additional amount of $2.9 trillion. Having said that, women role in small businesses play a vital role in enhancing the country’s economy.
However, women are pulled back from venturing into entrepreneurship, especially in a developing and traditional country like India. As it has a lot of values and restrictions for women. Alongside, the male-dominated sector such as the modern business world is certainly hard for women to prove their potential and achieve big. The present business arena demands a lot of support and business assistance, as well as good networking to make one's business most successful. But if the company is found to be led by a woman then it is certainly hard to gain funding which could be the foundation for any business as the investor does not trust the women leaders.
Therefore, the Indian government has taken the necessary measure to encourage women in leading a business. There are many policy initiatives that have been introduced to promote entrepreneurship and in turn elevate the country’s economy. In India, small businesses tend to have a major scope as it requires minor investment but could bring in higher profit. Thus, the nationalized banks and even NGOs are offering numerous programs such as Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) to help the potential women entrepreneurs, especially the ones with no educational background and skills.
Presently, the Indian government is offering more than 27 schemes for women empowerment by different departments and ministries. Some of these are Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Khadi And Village Industries Commission (KVIC), NGOs Credit Schemes, Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programmes (MSE-CDP) Prime Minister's Rojgar Yojana (PMRY), Entrepreneurial Development program (EDPs), Management Development programs, Women's Development Corporations (WDCs), Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM), Marketing of Non-Farm Products of Rural Women (MAHIMA), and many more.
Considering the women's potential the government has induced a lot of necessary measures to empower women entrepreneurs. Now, society has to take to lead and change their perspective and encourage women to take up the leadership role and aid the country by strengthening its economy.
