PNB (Punjab National Bank) - SCHEMES FOR WOMEN

SCHEMES FOR WOMEN

1. PNB MAHILA UDYAM NIDHI SCHEME 
To meet gap in equity. The women entrepreneurs will be assisted for setting up of new projects in tiny /small scale sector and rehabilitation of viable sick SSI units. Existing tiny and small scale industrial units and service industries undertaking expansion, modernization technology up gradation & diversification can also be considered.

2. PNB MAHILA Samridhi Yojna
Under This Scheme, four schemes have been launched under the umbrella of one scheme. These are for purchase of required infrastructure for Setting up of

• Tailoring shop/Boutique, i.e. for purchase of Sewing Machines, etc.
• ISD/ STD Booths, i.e. for Security Deposits with MTNL/ other Agencies like Reliance/ Tata Indicom. etc., for purchase of Fax Machine, Xeroxing/ Photocopier Machine, etc.
• Beauty Parlour, i.e. for purchase of Furniture, Chairs, Bench etc.
• Cyber Cafe, i.e. for purchase of Computers and furniture like computer tables, chairs etc.  and for recurring expenditure as per the need of the activity

3. Scheme For Financing Creches
To provide support services for women empowerment to working women in terms of creches with necessary services by making cheaper and easier credit available for financing Creches. The women will be assisted for purchase of required infrastructure for setting up Creches like basic equipment, utensils, stationers, growth monitoring equipments, fridge, cooler/fan, water filter, etc. and for recurring expenditure for one month.

4. PNB Kalyani Card Scheme
For meeting working capital credit requirement of allied agricultural activities/ misc farm/non- farm activities either singly or in combination with other activities.The literate/illiterate women dwelling in rural / semi-urban areas who have attained the age of majority shall be eligible under the Scheme.  Such Women shall include individuals, farmers, landless labourers, agricultural labourers, tenant farmers, share croppers, lessee farmers, etc. The women desirous of undertaking non-farm sector activities should have aptitude/experience and capability for undertaking the activity chosen for self-employment.

 
5. PNB Mahila Sashaktikaran Abhiyan
Under this scheme, following concessions will be admissible

• Interest rate to be relaxed by 0.25% in Non-Priority Sector Advances and 0.50% in Priority Sector advances
• Margin to be reduced to 10%, wherever the margin requirement is more than 10%
• Waiver of 50% upfront fee (wherever applicable)

Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) Scheme
The scheme envisages extension of credit by the bank and grant by the Govt of India to NGOs for the benefit / on lending to women either through SHGs or individually for setting up of small & micro enterprises in non-farm sector.

National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) has launched a specialised incubation programme for unemployed girls and women

In India, although women constitute the majority of the total population, the entrepreneurial world is still a male-dominated field, Vayalar Ravi, the minister for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), recently said at a public meeting.

Empowering women entrepreneurs is considered essential for achieving the goals of sustainable and inclusive development. The bottlenecks hindering the growth of women entrepreneurs must be eradicated to entitle them to fuller participation in business, he added.

NSIC’s incubation programme is an integrated support scheme that will provide hands-on training on working projects. It provides necessary facilities for prospective entrepreneurs and start-ups to enable them to learn about product manufacturing processes, technology development and business development.

According to the MSME ministry, the MSME sector contributes about 45 per cent of India’s total manufactured output and nearly 40 per cent of its exports. There are some 26 million MSMEs in the country, providing employment to more than 60 million persons. Of a total of 1,564,000 registered enterprises, 215,000 or 13.7 per cent are those of women entrepreneurs.

To encourage women to set up their own ventures, the ministry runs a scheme named Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD), which envisages economic empowerment of women through the development of their entrepreneurial skills in non-farm activities.

Under the scheme, the Central government gives a grant of up to 30 per cent of the total project cost to non-government organisations (NGOs) for promoting entrepreneurship among women. The remaining 70 per cent is financed by the lending agency as a loan for undertaking activities envisaged in the project.

Further, to impart skills and training to women entrepreneurs, a grant of up to Rs 1 lakh per programme is given to training institutions and NGOs, subject to certain conditions.

In the case of hard interventions the contribution from the MSME ministry for clusters owned and managed by women entrepreneurs could be up to 90 per cent of the project cost.

One of the obstacles faced by entrepreneurs is the lack of physical infrastructure. To create physical infrastructure for industrial estates where women’s enterprises constitute more than 50 per cent of the total, a Central government grant of 80 per cent of the project cost – subject to a maximum of Rs 8 crore – is available.

Meanwhile, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Coir Board has announced that under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), the margin money subsidy provided to women entrepreneurs has been increased to 35 per cent in rural areas and 25 per cent in urban areas, compared to 25 per cent and 15 per cent respectively for other general category beneficiaries.

KVIC disbursed Rs 312.68 crore as margin money subsidy in 2011-12, compared to Rs 277.63 crore in 2010-11 — an increase of about 12 per cent. The number of units assisted increased by 17 per cent to 14,210 in 2011-12, from 12,134 units in 2010-11.

The top five states in this regard were West Bengal (1,981 units), Uttar Pradesh (1,389 units), Tamil Nadu (1,142 units), Assam (1,071 units) and Bihar (991 units).

Step Taken By Government to Develop Women Entrepreneurs in India

The growth and development of women entrepreneurs required to be accelerated because entrepreneurial development is not possible without the participation of women.

Therefore, a congenial environment is needed to be created to enable women to participate actively in the entrepreneurial activities. There is a need of Government, non-Government, promotional and regulatory agencies to come forward and play the supportive role in promoting the women entrepreneur in India.

The Government of India has also formulated various training and development cum employment generations programs for the women to start their ventures. These programmes are as follows:

1. Steps taken in Seventh Five-Year Plan:

In the seventh five-year plan, a special chapter on the “Integration of women in development” was introduced by Government with following suggestion:

(i) Specific target group:

It was suggested to treat women as a specific target groups in all major development programs of the country.

(ii) Arranging training facilities:

It is also suggested in the chapter to devise and diversify vocational training facilities for women to suit their changing needs and skills.

(iii) Developing new equipments:

Efforts should be made to increase their efficiency and productivity through appropriate technologies, equipments and practices.

(iv) Marketing assistance:

It was suggested to provide the required assistance for marketing the products produced by women entrepreneurs.

(v) Decision-making process:

It was also suggested to involve the women in decision-making process.

2. Steps taken by Government during Eight Five-Year Plan:

The Government of India devised special programs to increases employment and income-generating activities for women in rural areas. The following plans are lunched during the Eight-Five Year Plan:

(i) Prime Minister Rojgar Yojana and EDPs were introduced to develop entrepreneurial qualities among rural women.

(ii) ‘Women in agriculture’ scheme was introduced to train women farmers having small and marginal holdings in agriculture and allied activities.

(iii) To generate more employment opportunities for women KVIC took special measures in remote areas.

(iv) Women co-operatives schemes were formed to help women in agro-based industries like dairy farming, poultry, animal husbandry, horticulture etc. with full financial support from the Government.

(v) Several other schemes like integrated Rural Development Programs (IRDP), Training of Rural youth for Self employment (TRYSEM) etc. were started to alleviated poverty.30-40% reservation is provided to women under these schemes.

3. Steps taken by Government during Ninth Five-Year Plan:

Economic development and growth is not achieved fully without the development of women entrepreneurs. The Government of India has introduced the following schemes for promoting women entrepreneurship because the future of small scale industries depends upon the women-entrepreneurs:

(a) Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) scheme was lunched by Ministry of Small Industries to develop women entrepreneurs in rural, semi-urban and urban areas by developing entrepreneurial qualities.

(b) Women Comkp0onent Plant, a special strategy adop0ted by Government to provide assistance to women entrepreneurs.

(c) Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and Swaran Jayanti Sekhari Rozgar Yojana were introduced by government to provide reservations for women and encouraging them to start their ventures.

(d) New schemes named Women Development Corporations were introduced by government to help women entrepreneurs in arranging credit and marketing facilities.

(e) State Industrial and Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has introduced following schemes to assist the women entrepreneurs. These schemes are:

(i) Mahila Udyam Nidhi

(ii) Micro Cordite Scheme for Women

(iii) Mahila Vikas Nidhi

(iv) Women Entrepreneurial Development Programmes

(v) Marketing Development Fund for Women

4. Consortium of Women entrepreneurs of India provides a platform to assist the women entrepreneurs to develop new, creative and innovative techniques of production, finance and marketing.

There are different bodies such as NGOs, voluntary organizations, Self-help groups, institutions and individual enterprises from rural and urban areas which collectively help the women entrepreneurs in their activities.

5. Training programmes:

The following training schemes specially for the self employment of women are introduced by government:

(i) Support for Training and Employment Programme of Women (STEP).

(ii) Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA).

(iii) Small Industry Service Institutes (SISIs)

(iv) State Financial Corporations

(v) National Small Industries Corporations

(vi) District Industrial Centres (DICs)

6. Mahila Vikas Nidhi:

SIDBI has developed this fund for the entrepreneurial development of women especially in rural areas. Under Mahila Vikas Nidhi grants loan to women are given to start their venture in the field like spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery products, block printing, handlooms handicrafts, bamboo products etc.

7. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh:

In 1993, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh was set up to grant micro credit to pore women at reasonable rates of interest with very low transaction costs and simple procedures.

Subsidies in India for Women Entrepreneurs

Women entrepreneurs are not sufficiently represented among the business community in India. Most women opt for household management after wedding and breadwinning responsibilities are left to the men. In recent days, there has been a shift in this attitude due to urbanization and women empowerment. To boost women owned businesses in India and promote women entrepreneurship, the Government has announced various subsidies in India for Women Entrepreneurs. In this article, we look at some of the popular subsidies in India for women entrepreneurs.

TREAD Subsidy Scheme for Women

Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) Scheme for Women is a subsidy in India provided by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. Government provides subsidy of up to 30% of the total project cost as appraised by lending institutions which would finance the remaining 70% as loan Assistance to applicant women. Women eligible under this scheme are who have no easy access to credit from banks due to their cumbersome procedures and the inability of poor & usually illiterate/semi-literate women to provide adequate security demanded by banks in the form of collaterals. Further, the request for subsidy under this scheme must be made by a NGO for a number of individual or group(s) women.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank

Bharatiya Mahila Bank is a one of a kind Bank in India formed with a vision of economic empowerment for women. Bharatiya Mahila Bank commenced operations in 2013 and currently has 45 branches across India. Bharatiya Mahila Bank focuses on women entrepreneurship with special attention to economically neglected, deprived, discriminated, underbanked, unbanked, rural and urban women to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth. Some of the popular loans provided by Bharatiya Mahila Bank for Women Entrepreneurs are:

BMB Shringaar – Loan For Beauty Parlour /Saloon/Spa: Collateral free loan of upto 1 crore is provided under theCGTMSE Scheme for setting up of a beauty parlour or saloon or spa. The loan is provided for a term of upto 7 years with an interest rate of 12.25% (Base Rate + 2.00%).

BMB Annapurna – Loan For Food Business: Collateral free loan of upto 1 crore is provided under the CGTMSE Scheme for setting up of a food business. The loan is provided for a term of upto 3 years with an interest rate of 11.75% (Base Rate + 1.50%).

BMB Parvarish – Loan For Day Care Centre: Collateral free loan of upto 1 crore is provided under the CGTMSE Scheme for setting up of child day care center. The loan is provided for a term of upto 5 years with an interest rate of 12.25% (Base Rate + 2.00%).

Mahila Coir Yojana

The Mahila Coir Yojana Subsidy Scheme was promoted to provide self employment to rural women artisans in regions producing coir fibre. Conversion of coir fibre into yarn on motorized ratts in rural households provides scope for large scale employment, improvement in productivity and quality, better working conditions and higher income. The scheme envisages distribution of motorized ratts/ motorized traditional ratts for spinning coir yarn to women artisans. As per the scheme, the Coir Board will provide 75% of the cost of the motorized ratt as one time subsidy provided the other 25% is raised by the beneficiary through voluntary organizations/ financial institutions/ own sources. Not more than one artisan per household would be eligible to receive assistance under the scheme.

Mahila Udayam Nidhi

Mahila Udayam Nidhi is a subsidy scheme for women entrepreneurs from Puducherry Government. Women entrepreneurs setting up a new SSI unit in the service sector in Puducherry State can avail this scheme. As per the scheme, for a project cost of Rs.10 lakhs, seed capital of 25% is provided as a subsidy and the balance 75% would be funded as a Term Loan (65%) and Promoter Contribution (10%). The term loan would have a repayment period of 6 to 8 years including moratorium of 1 to 2 years.

Initiatives for Women Entrepreneurs by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Women entrepreneurs have achieved remarkable success. The Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Organisation (MSME-DO), the various State Small Industries Development Corporations (SSIDCs), the nationalised banks and even NGOs are conducting various programmes including Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs). To cater to the needs of potential women entrepreneurs, who may not have adequate educational background and skills, MSME-DO has introduced process/product oriented EDPs in areas like TV repairing, printed circuit boards, leather goods, screen printing etc. A special prize to "Outstanding Women Entrepreneur" of the year is being given to recognise achievements made by and to provide incentives to women entrepreneurs. The Office of DC (MSME) has also opened a Women Cell to provide coordination and assistance to women entrepreneurs facing specific problems.

There are also several other schemes of the government like the Income Generating Scheme, implemented by the Department of Women and Child Development, which provides assistance for setting up training-cum-income generating activities for needy women to make them economically independent. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has been implementing two special schemes for women namely Mahila Udyam Nidhi which is an exclusive scheme for providing equity to women entrepreneurs and the Mahila Vikas Nidhi which offers developmental assistance for pursuit of income generating activities to women. The SIDBI has also taken initiative to set up an informal channel for credit needs on soft terms giving special emphasis to women. Over and above this, SIDBI also provides training for credit utilisation as also credit delivery skills for the executives of voluntary organisations working for women. Grant for setting up a production unit is also available under Socio-Economic Programme of Central Social Welfare Board.

Policies and Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs in India

In India, the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises development organisations, various State Small Industries Development Corporations, the Nationalised banks and even NGOs are conducting various programmes including Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) to cater to the needs of potential women entrepreneurs, who may not have adequate educational background and skills. The Office of DC (MSME) has also opened a Women Cell to provide coordination and assistance to women entrepreneurs facing specific problems.

There are also several other schemes of the government at central and state level, which provide assistance for setting up training-cum-income generating activities for needy women to make them economically independent. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has also been implementing special schemes for women entrepreneurs.

In addition to the special schemes for women entrepreneurs, various government schemes for MSMEs also provide certain special incentives and concessions for women entrepreneurs. For instance, under Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), preference is given to women beneficiaries. The government has also made several relaxations for women to facilitate the participation of women beneficiaries in this scheme. Similarly, under the MSE Cluster Development Programme by Ministry of MSME, the contribution from the Ministry of MSME varies between 30-80% of the total project in case of hard intervention, but in the case of clusters owned and managed by women entrepreneurs, contribution of the M/o MSME could be upto 90% of the project cost. Similarly, under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises, the guarantee cover is generally available upto 75% of the loans extended; however the extent of guarantee cover is 80% for MSEs operated and/ or owned by women. 

Some of the special schemes for women entrepreneurs implemented by the government bodies and allied institutions are provided below.
 

• Schemes of Ministry of MSME
  • Trade related entrepreneurship assistance and development (TREAD) scheme for women
  • Mahila Coir Yojana
  To read more on activities of Ministry of MSMEs for women development, click here.

• Schemes of Ministry of Women and Child Development
  • Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
  • Swayam Siddha

• Schemes of Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation
  • Self employment loan programmes
  • Educational loan schemes
  • Single women benefit schemes
  • Job oriented training programmes
  • Marketing support for women entrepreneurs
  • Autorickshaw / school van’s driver scheme

• Kerala Government’s Women Industries Programme

• Delhi Government’s Stree Shakti Project

• Schemes of Delhi Commission for Women (Related to Skill development and training)

• Incentives to Women Entrepreneurs Scheme, 2008, Government of Goa

• Magalir Udavi Scheme, Pudhucherry Government

• Financing Schemes by Banks/ Financial Institution's

Women Entrepreneur Associations

The efforts of government and its different agencies are supplemented by NGOs and associations that are playing an equally important role in facilitating women empowerment. List of various women associations in India is provided in the table below.

Details of Women Entrepreneur Associations in India

S.no.	Association Name	Website
1	Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE)	http://www.fiwe.org/
2	Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs(CWEI)	http://www.cwei.org/
3	Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra Pradesh	http://www.aleap.org/index.html
4	Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE)	http://awakeindia.org.in/
5	Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)	http://www.sewa.org/
6	Women Entrepreneurs Promotion Association (WEPA)	Click here for Profile
7	The Marketing Organisation of Women Enterprises (MOOWES)	Click here for Profile
8	Bihar Mahila Udyog SanghBihar Mahila Udyog Sangh	http://www.biharmahilaudyogsangh.com/
9	Mahakaushal Association of Woman Entrepreneurs (MAWE)	http://www.maweindia.com/
10	SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurship Council	http://www.scwec.com/index.htm
11	Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil Nadu (WEAT)	Click here for Profile
12	TiE Stree Shakti (TSS)	http://www.tiestreeshakti.org/
13	Women Empowerment Corporation	http://www.wecindia.org

 

Success Stories of Women Entrepreneurs in India

• Story of Dream Weavers which started with Rs 500 and now makes Rs 25 lakhs, click here to read the story.
• Story of Patricia Narayan, Winner of Ficci Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award, click here to read the story.
• Story of Sarala Bastian who set up a successful mushroom business with just Rs 15000, click here to read the story.
• Success story of Kiran Majumdar Shaw, the Biocon Queen, click here to read the story.
• Success story of Saloni Malhotra, founder of DesiCrew, click here to read the story
• Story of Revathi Krishna, the founder of Coffee, Books and More, click here to read the story
• Story of Lata Manohar’s boutique - Vishuddi, click here to read the story
• Story of Radha Rajakrishnan, a successful entrepreneur in apparel business, click here to read the story.

Tips for Women Entrepreneurs

• Start a business that works for you and your personal life
• Research the product/ service
• Assess the market
• Start business with adequate funds
• Do networking
• Consult with professionals