Thursday 12 July 2018

Business loans for women: Eligibility criteria and various schemes

Venturing or starting a business is not a new concept in India. In fact, a range of services is offered for start-ups. Even though you spend all your capital in your new business, money is required for other purposes as well such as expanding operations of smaller firms, purchasing machinery and equipment, repayment of other loans, turnaround of an ineffective business, etc.

We live in a generation of start-ups and women are leading the pack as well. There are numerous business options for women such as launching a fashion boutique, education classes, tours & travels, beauty clinics, etc. For this very purpose, certain banks provide business loans for women. Some of the schemes available are:

1) Cent Kalyani by Central Bank of India: The objective of this scheme is to encourage women entrepreneurs to take up more new projects or expand their existing business. At present, the options to take under Cent Kalyani include overdraft/cash credit and lower term loans.

2) Shree Shakti scheme by State Bank of India: The SBI aims at supporting business women by offering certain concessions. To avail this loan, women have to hold 50 per cent of an enterprises’ capital.

3) Synd Mahila Shakti from Syndicate Bank: With regards to financial empowerment of women, the Syndicate Bank launched Synd Mahila Shakti. It offers credit facilities to those women who do not earn regular income from their business. The loan is available for short term up to 10 years or as cash credit to meet the day-to-day business requirements.

4) Shakti Scheme from DENA Bank: Under this scheme, the following activities are covered:

- Agriculture and allied operations
- Small enterprises
- Retail trade
- Microcredit
- Education
- Housing
The maximum loan term might differ from business behaviour and action.

5) Udyogini Scheme by Punjab & Sind Bank: This scheme caters to women who are involved in business activities such as tiny SSI sector, business enterprises, retail traders, professional and self-employed women, etc. The scheme requires one or more women to share capital of at least 51 per cent.
Banks like HDFC bank provide small business loans to every budding entrepreneur including women who have an established company but require a slight nudge.

Business loan eligibility criteria for women:

When women apply for business loans, the rules differ from that of businessmen.

1) Age: Should be between the age group of 18 to 60 years 
2) Ownership share: Should have 50-51 per cent of the capital share
3) Loan amount: Can apply for a loan amount anywhere between INR 50,000 up to INR 5 crore
4) Loan term: This varies from bank to bank.
However, it generally last between 1 to 10 years

Women do everything on their own and are very strong-willed when it comes to proving a point to the society. Banks above have understood the needs of women entrepreneurs. One can expect more renowned banks to come forward and provide further provisions through their business loans scheme.

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