Bhubaneswar: The country will be celebrating International Women’s day on Saturday. Since women form half of the country’s population, a healthy contribution to the country’s economy from half of the population will not only empower them but also accelerate the economic growth of the country, making it gender neutral, too. 

In the above backdrop, Niti Aayog has released a report titled “From Borrowers to Builders: Women’s Role In India’s Financial growth Story.”

A glance at the report highlights the following.

• The report finds that despite forming half of the country’s population, women’s contribution to GDP were mere 18%. It shows a long way to go for empowering women, economically.

However, the strategy of Modi govt’s programmes to accelerate financial access to women is revolutionising. The paradigm shift measured is detailed below.

• Women seeking credit grew nearly three times (~3X) between 2019 and 2024, reflecting increased demand among female borrowers.
• About 60% of women borrowers availing credit are from semi-urban or rural areas.
• Women under 30 years of age, account for only 27% of retail credit uptake by women, compared to 40% for men
• Since 2019, women’s share in Business Loans up 14%
• Their share in Gold Loans up by 6%
• As of December 2024, 27 million women borrowers in India have monitored their credit information report and score with CIBIL.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ON RISE

India is witnessing a rise in Women Entrepreneurs (WEs).

The report shows 16% of women borrowers holding a loan to finance business needs in their portfolio as of December 2024, compared to just 9% in December 2019.

The Niti Aayog report says that over the past 7 years, the Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) has steadily increased from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24.

This growth has been largely fueled by the increased economic participation of rural women.

The report has cited the following evidences supporting a rise in women entrepreneurs

• In FY 2023-24, loans totaling INR 2.22 lakh crore were disbursed to 4.24 crore women entrepreneurs under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY).
• The PM SVANidhi Yojana supported 30.6 lakh women street vendors with 5,939.7 crore in working capital loans as of December 2024.
• As of January 2025, over 40% of UDYAM-registered MSMEs are women-owned.
• The number of women borrowers availing retail credit in India has increased at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22% between 2019 and 2024
• Women borrowers are increasingly seeking credit for entrepreneurial growth, as reflected in the high share of women in credit enquiries in 2024 for:

1. Loan Against Property: 36% (+2% increase in share from 2019)
2. Agriculture Loans: 26% (+5% increase in share from 2019)
3. Business Loans: 25% (+2% increase in share from 2019)
4. Commercial Vehicle Loans: 19% (+4% increase in share from 2019)

URBAN WOMEN TAKE LOANS FOR PERSONAL FINANCE

As per the data shared by the Niti Aayog, Young women (<=30 years of age) are availing credit for personal finance purposes.

The share of young women in other credit products remained low for originations in 2024.

• 42% took personal loans
• 17% took Gold loans
• 18% took business loans
• 13% took agri loans.

SEMI-URBAN, RURAL WOMEN TAKE LOAN TO BECOME ENTREPRENEUR

As per the Niti Aayog report,in rural and semi-Urban centres, young women take loans for becoming an emtrepreneur.

The Niti data shows loans to women in semi-urban and rural areas are higher for agriculture, business purposes, and gold than for personal finance loans.

• Agriculture – 84% of total loans sanctioned
• Gold Loans – 70%
• Business loans – 65%
• Personal loans – 49%

WOMEN TAKE HIGH CONSUMPTION LOAN

For women borrowers in India, consumption loans (i.e. personal loans, credit cards and consumer durable loans) remain the most preferred credit product.

• 36% of women holding at least one consumption loan in their portfolio as of December 2024, up from 33% in December 2019.
• Agriculture and Gold loans rank second most preferred products. 34% of women borrowers holding either an agricultural or gold loan in their portfolio as of December 2024.

ODISHA WOMEN NOT RANK HIGH IN FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT

In the indicator of financial empowerment and growth of entrepreneurship, the Niti Aayog report has estimated the growth in women borrowers state wise. Odisha fails to figure in the high list.

Tamil Nadu is the State where share of women borrowers is as high as 44%.

WOMEN CIBIL SHOW

The Niti report has brought to fore that women are increasingly demonstrating financial independence through self-monitoring and credit management.

It says, “This is a testament to their growing financial acumen. Women take charge of their financial futures.”

• By the end of 2024, nearly 27 million women were actively monitoring their credit—a striking 42% increase from 2023.
• This shows women increasingly viewing credit health as an active tool for shaping their financial futures.

STATE WISE SHOW

• The number of self-monitoring women from metro areas has grown by 30% from December 2023 to December 2024, while those from non-metro areas has grown by 48% during the same period.
• Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana were the top five states for women self-monitoring in CY 2024, contributing to 49% of the total women self-monitoring across all states. 
• The southern region has the highest number of women self-monitoring, with 10.16 million women.
• This region also experienced a growth of 46% from Dec 2023 till Dec 2024
• Odisha doesn’t figure in the list (given below)