Nowadays, start-ups and entrepreneurship ventures have become a common practice in India. Every day, you see new ventures and start-ups flourishing or being launched. However, women-owned businesses or start-ups are still comparatively less.
Hence, to further grow women-led entrepreneurial initiatives, various public and private sector banks and NBFCs have introduced a loan for women. If you have a source of income or a good credit history, then a business loan is the best financing form. Here we have listed the most famous loan offers for women entrepreneurs available in India.
Government schemes for loans for women
Women may want to opt for government funding since they have low-interest rates and long repayment periods. However, if you want government funding, you will have to go through a long and tiresome appeal while submitting many documents and handling a lot of paperwork. Here are some latest government bank loans that are being offered to women.
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Annapurna and Shringaar
– This loan can be used to expand an existing business, or a woman can use this loan to start a new business. These two loans are collateral-free loans. If you are a woman and want to open a beauty parlor, then you can opt for the Shringaar loan, whereas if you want to start a catering business, you can opt for financial support of up to 50,000 rupees under the Annapurna scheme.
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Stree Shakti Scheme For Women in Business
– This package offers small business loans to businesses that have a woman with a 50% stake in the business. If a woman has participated in the Entrepreneurship Development Program run by her state, she can apply for this package. This scheme has a discounted interest rate on its loans, only by 0.05% if the loan amount is over two lakh rupees.
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Cent Kalyani Package
This scheme offers business loans to women who work in the village or in the cottage industries, are self-employed, run medium to small enterprises, conduct retail trade, agriculture, or any program sponsored by the government.
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Shakti Scheme
This scheme offers loans for women of up to 20 lakh rupees for all entrepreneurs in retail, manufacturing, micro-credit, agriculture, and other small enterprises. Women can also avail of a concession of 0.25 % on their interest rate under the Dena Shakti Package. With this scheme, a women entrepreneur can avail of a loan of up to Rs. 50,000 under the micro-credit category.
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Mahila Udyam Nidhi
This Scheme offers to fund women with a repayment period of a decade. It has various plans for beauty parlours, day-care centres, cars, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, etc.
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Udyogini Scheme
The Indian government initiated this scheme to aid in the development and growth of women entrepreneurs. This scheme aims to motivate and promote women from poor backgrounds. Illiterate women living in economically backward and rural areas can avail financial support under this scheme.
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Unsecured business loans
Business loans from banks or NBFCs can be the best form of financing for women. Different lenders have different repayment periods. The interest rate also varies amongst lenders. However, the best thing about a business loan is that it is collateral-free. To secure a business loan, women do not have to submit any security such as their car, home, business, or any property.
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You can avail of a business loan from any financial institution, such as a bank or an NBFC, where you can repay the loan in monthly installments. If you have a steady income source, then a business loan is the best choice for funding. Many international organizations also offer grants to women to support their small businesses. If your business has a social motive or is a social entrepreneur, you can apply for such grants to avail yourself of funding.
