The self-sufficiency and empowerment of modern women have become the topmost concerns of the Government of India nowadays. To maximize the overall welfare of women, the government has come up with several initiatives while assisting them in diverse aspects of lives. One such example is the advent of the Udyogini Scheme for Women Entrepreneurship -a pioneering scheme for startup business loan for women in India by Government.
The scheme is committed to offering financial assistance to budding women entrepreneurs -especially in rural areas. The program is also committed to providing in-depth financial aid to poor women business individuals to launch their business ventures.
What is the Udyogini Yojana for Women Entrepreneurship?
Udyogini refers to the woman who is an entrepreneur. The scheme of Udyogini Yojana for women entrepreneurship is aimed at encouraging budding women entrepreneurs in backward and rural areas of the country -especially illiterate women, by offering them with proper financial aid. Through this scheme, women entrepreneurs can also look forward to receiving specialized skill development training throughout the tenure of the program.
The ability of building microenterprises as well as participating in businesses will improve the overall status. In this manner, it will increase the income of an individual as well as the entire family. It also implies the advent of the economic boom across the nation. Most private and public sector banks have participated in the Udyogini Scheme by the Government of India.
What are the Objectives of the Udyogini Scheme?
- Allowing women to take out business loans from banks and other reputed financial institutions to get proper earning wage
- Providing reduced interest rates on financial aid to women in ST & SC or other types of distinctive classifications
- Delivering free interest-based advances to women without any form of discrimination
- Ensuring the overall success of women loan recipients with the help of the EDP program
What are the Features of the Udyogini Scheme?
- Free or Reduced Interest on Business Loans
The Udyogini Yojana or Scheme is aimed at offering women with proper financial assistance in setting up their businesses. Funding organizations usually remain generous in providing financial assistance to women -particularly from special categories like incapacitated, destitute, widows. Under this scheme, women falling under the category of distinctive classification will receive credit without any interest.
- High-Esteem Advance Sum
Udyogini Yojana provides an advance amount of around 3 Lakhs INR to specific candidates. The candidates are expected to meet the desired eligibility criteria for authorizing this sum of money.
- Spanning 88 Small-Scope Industries
The Udyogini Yojana offers advanced benefits to ventures across 88 small-scope industries. At the same time, women with diverse business visions in the field of agriculture will be receiving advance payments without any interest.
Some of the industries in this domain are:
- Bangles
- Salon
- Agarbatti manufacturing
- Flask & catering
- Bottlecap manufacturing
- Cleaning
- Dairy & poultry-specific
- Flour mills
- Handiworks manufacturing
- Around 30% Loan Subsidy
The Udyogini Yojana offers assistance to women in launching as well as maintaining their businesses. The government goes ahead with offering around 30 percent subsidy on the business loans offered to women entrepreneurs towards helping them financially. Moreover, this makes the process of loan payments highly affordable while also simplifying the overall financial burden.
- Transparency with Respect to Candidate Assessment
Before a business loan is extended, the financial institution or bank will evaluate the eligibility of the candidate through a transparent process. The Udyogini Yojana application forms will be checking the integrity of beneficiaries in a transparent fashion.
What are the Eligibility Criteria for the Udyogini Scheme?
- Business loans are made available only for women entrepreneurs
- The applicant should feature a decent credit score while being capable of repaying the loan amount
- The borrower should never have defaulted any business loan in the past
What are the Documents Required for the Scheme?
- The completed application form along with the passport-size photograph of the candidate
- Birth certificate and Aadhar card of the applicant
- The ration card of the applicant along with the BPL (Below Poverty Line) card
- Cast certificate (if applicable)
- Proof of address and income
- Other documents as required by the financial institution or the bank
- Bank account information
Conclusion
With its secular objective to assist as well as motivate women entrepreneurs in the rural & backward areas of the country, the Government of India has unveiled the Udyogini Scheme for promoting women entrepreneurship. The scheme is primarily aimed at supporting the illiterate and poor women of rural areas while helping them to become more financially independent. With proper financial assistance and skill-based training, government-based scheme is aimed at supporting women empowerment and entrepreneurship.
In case women are reluctant to taking up a typical business loan, there are several other modes of investment opportunities for their overall success in the entrepreneurial domain. Revenue-based financing is one such leading and hassle-free option to minimize the fear of equity dilution in your budding business.
