INTRODUCTION
There is an INR 1.37 trillion (USD 16.67 billion) unmet finance need for women-owned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (wMSMEs) in India, as per a recent study by the International Finance Corporation. The same study also finds that 43% of women entrepreneurs, as compared to 26% men, cited an inability to access credit as a reason to discontinue their businesses.
Amongst wMSMEs, women’s cooperatives and collective enterprises face particularly unique challenges in accessing the working capital they need to sustain and grow their businesses. At the same time, national programmes such as the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), and cooperative bodies such as the Ministry of Cooperation, National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and the National Cooperative Development Cooperation (NCDC) are promoting women’s representation and participation in collective enterprises, producer groups, and cooperatives. Systems and institutions that enable financing of these enterprises beyond the initial years of seed funding in the form of effective ‘patient1’ capital is thus required.
