Over 3,000 MSMEs led by women entrepreneurs shut post Covid: Govt data

Ease of doing business for MSMEs: States with the highest number of closures of women-led units were Maharashtra (861), Tamil Nadu (468), Gujarat (245), Uttar Pradesh (207), Rajasthan (180), and more.

Written by Sandeep Soni

February 19, 2023 17:58 IST

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Women MSMEs have a share of around 18 per cent in the total MSMEs registered.

Ease of doing business for MSMEs: As many as 3,057 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) led by women entrepreneurs have shut down in the country post-Covid between July 1, 2020 and February 2, 2023, according to official data. During the period, 25.71 lakh MSMEs registered on the Udyam portal out of around 1.38 crore total registrations were led by women entrepreneurs. States with the highest number of closures of women-led units were Maharashtra (861), Tamil Nadu (468), Gujarat (245), Uttar Pradesh (207), Rajasthan (180), and more, showed data from the Udyam portal shared by the minister of state in the MSME ministry Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma in the Rajya Sabha recently.

Women MSMEs have a share of around 18 per cent in the total MSMEs registered while according to the MSME Ministry’s 2021-22 annual report, out of 6.33 crore MSMEs (based on the National Sample Survey (NSS) 73rd round conducted in FY16), 20.37 per cent were owned by women.

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Overall, 17,126 MSMEs have been shut since July 2020 including 175 in the remaining FY21, 6,222 in FY22, and 10,729 till February 3 in the current fiscal, according to data shared by Verma earlier in the Parliament.

Verma said to support women MSMEs, with effect from December 1, 2022, the concession of a 10 per cent guarantee fee and enhanced guarantee coverage of 85 per cent against 75 per cent in other cases has been introduced in respect of loans given to women entrepreneurs under Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE). Since the launch of the scheme in 2000, Rs 53,080 crore has been guaranteed in respect of loans availed by 13.29 lakh accounts of women-led MSEs, he added.

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Moreover, about 8.24 lakh micro enterprises were assisted with a subsidy of more than Rs 20,300 crore, providing employment to an estimated 68 lakh persons since the launch of the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) in 2008-09, the minister said.

The government also runs the Stand-Up India scheme to promote entrepreneurship among the SC, ST and women by facilitating bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one SC/ ST borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up a greenfield enterprise. Since its launch in April 2016 till December 2, 2022, 1.28 lakh were women beneficiaries.