Businesswomen score high in south: study

‘High literacy rate driving entrepreneurship in four southern States, West Bengal’

November 21, 2017 09:20 pm | Updated 09:23 pm IST - MUMBAI

Powering women: Most schemes for women entrepreneurs enable financial aid, followed by training, the report said.

Powering women: Most schemes for women entrepreneurs enable financial aid, followed by training, the report said.

The southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, along with West Bengal, have the highest number of women entrepreneurs in the country with a majority in small- and medium-sized businesses, according to a study.

The report on the State of Women Entrepreneurship in India by sheatwork, a knowledge hub for women entrepreneurs, attributes this to the high literacy rate, along with overall women’s empowerment in these States.

However, in terms of offering the maximum number of schemes for women entrepreneurs, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Rajasthan and West Bengal have emerged as the top five States in the country.

The focus of schemes for women entrepreneurs is primarily on financial aid followed by training and skill building of such entrepreneurs, it said.

The education sector sees the maximum number of women entrepreneurs followed by financial services, insurance, livestock, forestry and lodging, the report said.

‘Self-financing high’

Further, almost 80% of women entrepreneurs opt to self-finance their businesses with little utilisation of various government schemes that provide financial aid to women entrepreneurs.

Incidentally, the north eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland have lesser number of women entrepreneurs though the ratio of male to female entrepreneurs strongly favours women.

“Our objective behind the report is to understand where women entrepreneurship in India stands today, how the existing ecosystem and various government schemes for women entrepreneurs can be better utilised and enhanced to encourage more women to start their own ventures,” said Ruby Sinha, founder, sheatwork.com .

“With the government’s overall focus on women’s development, the... environment is fast becoming one in which women entrepreneurship can grow and thrive.”

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