Loan for Women Entrepreneurs

In the 2015 Female Entrepreneurship Index reported by The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI), India ranks poorly in terms of the women entrepreneurship ecosystem and women entrepreneurship aspirations. The report ranks India very poorly in terms of availability of external financing for women entrepreneurs, especially women's access to a bank account for business purposes and women’s access to bank loans. Boosting women Entrepreneurship is a key mandate in the 2015 National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and there are already various schemes for providing bank loan for women Entrepreneurs available with the Banks. In this article, we look at some of the top schemes for providing loan for women entrepreneurs.

Loan For Beauty Parlour

Bharatiya Mahila Bank, formed for the empowerment of women entrepreneurs in India and Punjab National Bank have a special scheme for assisting women to establish a beauty parlour or salon or spa. Providing loan for the purchase and/or construction of parlour or salon or spa, purchase of tools and equipment and meeting day to day expenses of the business. The loan is available for women entrepreneurs within the age of 20 years to 60 years under the collateral-free CGTMSE Scheme. Repayment can be made over 7 years at a rate of interest of 12%.

Loan for Food Catering and Restaurants

Bharatiya Mahila Bank and State Bank of Mysore operate a special scheme for assisting women to establish food catering unit for selling tiffin or lunch packs. Women entrepreneurs between the age of 18 and 60 can avail this loan without any collateral under the CGTMSE Scheme. Repayment must be made within 3 years at a rate of interest of 11.5%.

Loan for Day Care Centre

Loan is provided by Bharatiya Mahila Bank and Punjab National Bank to women entrepreneurs for establishing a preschool or child daycare centre and purchase of required equipment. Women entrepreneurs between the age of 21 to 60 can avail the BMB Parvarish loan scheme without any collateral security under the CGTMSE scheme. Loan repayment must be made in 5 years and a 12% rate of interest is applicable.

SME Easy Loan

Bharatiya Mahila Bank operates a special SME Easy Loan scheme aimed at small and medium enterprises owned and operated by women entrepreneurs. Under the scheme, a combination of working capital and/or term loan can be sanctioned for traders or service providers or manufacturers. Loan under Rs.1 crore will be covered under the CGTMSE scheme and loan of upto Rs.20 crore can be provided under the scheme. Loan sanctioned under the BMB SME easy scheme have a tenure of upto 7 years and a 12.25% rate of interest is applicable.

Loan Against Property

Bharatiya Mahila Bank also provides loan against property for women entrepreneurs between the age of 21 and 70 years at concessional rate of interest. Loan against property can be extended as a term loan or overdraft facility for women-owned and operated businesses in India. The minimum loan amount is Rs. 5 lakhs under the scheme. In the case of individual women, bank can provide a loan of upto Rs.1 crore. For women-owned proprietorship businesses in the service industry, the bank can offer a loan of upto Rs.2 crore. For women-owned businesses that are in the manufacturing industry, the bank can offer a loan of upto Rs.5 crore. For women-owned corporate, a loan of upto Rs.10 crores is allowed. Loan against property can be sanctioned with a tenure of 7 years, at 12.75% interest on daily reducing balance.

Shree Shakthi Package for Women entrepreneurs

State Bank of India and Associated Banks, offer special loans for women entrepreneurs under the Shree Shakthi Package. Small scale units managed by one or more women entrepreneurs who have a stake not less than 51% of the equity are eligible under the scheme. Under the scheme, the margin money requirement is low at 5% for various categories. Further, the interest rate is low for women entrepreneurs at 0.5% for loans that exceed Rs.2 lakhs and there is no need for collateral security for loans of upto Rs. 5 lakh in case of tiny sector units.

For help obtaining a bank loan, visit IndiaFilings.com and talk to an IndiaFilings Business Advisor.