SRI Fund: Rs 21,330 crore in 824 MSMEs as ministry courts women founders
By Siddharth VermaBusiness Correspondent, Peepals Bharat
Representative image: rupixen / Pixabay
The SRI Fund has put Rs 21,330 crore into 824 MSMEs, the MSME ministry said at a 4 November 2026 workshop for women-led businesses.
What Happened
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises held a workshop in New Delhi on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, to explain how women-led small businesses can raise equity from the Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund. At the meeting, MSME Secretary Bharat Khera said the fund had invested Rs 21,330 crore in 824 MSMEs through 72 empanelled "daughter funds" and had drawn in nearly Rs 48,000 crore from private investors, according to the ministry's release. More than 60 women entrepreneurs attended the workshop, held at Kartavya Bhawan 3 under the ministry's Yashashvini campaign for women's entrepreneurship.
Key Facts
- The SRI Fund is a Rs 10,000 crore fund-of-funds set up under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package; commitments of Rs 8,305 crore had been made against that corpus, Khera said.
- It works through a "mother fund" that invests only in "daughter funds", which are private venture capital and private equity funds that in turn invest in MSMEs. Seventy-two daughter funds are empanelled.
- Investments of Rs 21,330 crore have gone into 824 MSMEs, about 74 per cent of them micro enterprises, according to the ministry.
- Nearly Rs 48,000 crore has been leveraged from private venture capital and private equity funds.
- Women-owned enterprises make up 37.6 per cent of registrations on the Udyam and Udyam Assist portals, and Khera called for that share to rise to 50 per cent.
- The Union Budget 2026-27 added Rs 2,000 crore to the SRI Fund for micro enterprises, and a separate Rs 10,000 crore SME Growth Fund is to invest directly in small and medium enterprises.
- The fund is run by NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited, a SEBI-registered Category II alternative investment fund.
Why It Matters
Most small businesses in India grow on bank loans, not on equity. Equity means an investor puts money in for a share of the company, which the business does not have to repay on a fixed schedule. For a small manufacturer or service firm that wants to add a production line or open in another town, equity can carry growth that a loan cannot. The SRI Fund was created to bring that kind of money to MSMEs, and the workshop was an attempt to make sure women founders know how to reach it.
At the workshop, daughter funds explained their investment criteria and walked entrepreneurs through the steps of an equity deal, from first screening to due diligence and documents. Industry associations told the ministry that early-stage women-led businesses often need smaller cheques, investment-readiness programmes in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, and help with accounts and business valuation. Those are practical gaps: a founder in a smaller city may run a profitable unit but still not have the audited books or valuation report an investor asks for.
The Udyam figure frames the challenge. Udyam is the government's free online registration for MSMEs, and Udyam Assist brings informal micro units onto the system. If women own 37.6 per cent of the businesses registered there, raising that to the 50 per cent Khera called for would need many more women to formalise and grow their firms.
Peepals calculation: The fund has committed about 83% of its corpus (Rs 8,305 crore ÷ Rs 10,000 crore = 0.83). The average investment per business works out to about Rs 25.9 crore (Rs 21,330 crore ÷ 824 ≈ Rs 25.9 crore), and about 610 of the 824 businesses are micro enterprises (824 × 0.74 ≈ 610). Moving women's share of Udyam registrations from 37.6% to 50% means closing a gap of 12.4 percentage points. Our calculation from the reported figures.
| | Measure | Figure | |
|---|---|
| | Fund corpus | Rs 10,000 crore | |
| | Commitments made | Rs 8,305 crore | |
| | Daughter funds empanelled | 72 | |
| | MSMEs funded | 824 (about 74% micro) | |
| | Invested in MSMEs | Rs 21,330 crore | |
| | Private capital leveraged | Nearly Rs 48,000 crore | |
Impact
Short-term: Women entrepreneurs who attended now have direct contact with daughter funds and a clearer picture of what investors check before putting in money.
Long-term: If the ministry acts on the associations' suggestions, smaller tickets and readiness programmes in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities could widen access to equity beyond the businesses that are already investor-ready.
Who is affected: Women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises, especially outside the metros; the 72 daughter funds; and MSMEs looking for equity rather than loans.
Key Takeaway
The SRI Fund says it has put Rs 21,330 crore into 824 MSMEs and leveraged nearly Rs 48,000 crore of private money, and the MSME ministry is now pushing it towards women-led firms, who hold 37.6 per cent of Udyam registrations.
Questions and Answers
What is the SRI Fund for MSMEs?
The Self-Reliant India Fund is a Rs 10,000 crore government fund-of-funds that invests in private venture capital and private equity "daughter funds", which then put equity into micro, small and medium enterprises. It is run by NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited.
How much has the SRI Fund invested so far?
According to the MSME ministry, investments of Rs 21,330 crore have been made in 824 MSMEs through 72 daughter funds, about 74 per cent of them micro enterprises, and nearly Rs 48,000 crore has been leveraged from private investors.
What did the 4 November 2026 workshop do for women entrepreneurs?
More than 60 women entrepreneurs met daughter-fund managers, who explained their investment criteria and the steps from screening to due diligence and documentation. Industry bodies asked for smaller cheques and investment-readiness support in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
What share of MSMEs are owned by women?
Women-owned enterprises make up 37.6 per cent of registrations on the Udyam and Udyam Assist portals, according to the ministry, and the MSME Secretary called for raising it to 50 per cent.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Siddharth Verma, Business CorrespondentCovers Business and more for Peepals Bharat. All stories by Siddharth Verma
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Siddharth Verma is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
