Women own 37.6% of 10 crore Udyam MSMEs; ministry targets 50%
By Priya NairLeadership & Growth Editor, Peepals Shakti
Representative image: Antonio_Cansino / Pixabay
Women own 37.6% of over 10 crore Udyam-registered MSMEs and the government wants 50%, the MSME Secretary said at a 4 November 2026 workshop in New Delhi.
What Happened
Women own 37.6% of the more than 10 crore businesses registered on India's Udyam and Udyam Assist portals, and the government wants that share to reach 50%, the Secretary of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Bharat Khera, said at a workshop in New Delhi on Wednesday, 4 November 2026. Registrations on the two portals crossed 10 crore as of 30 October 2026, he said. The workshop, held at Kartavya Bhawan under the Yashashvini campaign for women's entrepreneurship, explained how women-led small businesses can raise money through the government's Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund.
Key Facts
- Udyam and Udyam Assist registrations: more than 10 crore as of 30 October 2026.
- Women-owned share: 37.6% of total registrations, according to the MSME Secretary.
- Goal: the Secretary called for raising the women-owned share to 50%.
- Event: awareness workshop on the SRI Fund for women-led MSMEs, Kartavya Bhawan, New Delhi, 4 November 2026, part of the Yashashvini campaign.
- SRI Fund: commitments of Rs 8,305 crore made against a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore, supporting 824 MSMEs.
- Private money: the fund has drawn in nearly Rs 48,000 crore of private capital, according to reports of the briefing.
- Udyam is the government's online registration for micro, small and medium enterprises; Udyam Assist is a companion platform for registering informal micro units.
Why It Matters
Registration on Udyam is how a small business gets recognised as an MSME, which is the starting point for most government support schemes for the sector. A 37.6% share for women-owned firms means that, of every eight registered small businesses, about three are owned by women. The ministry's own target shows it sees room to grow.
Registration alone does not mean access to finance. That is why the workshop focused on the SRI Fund, a government fund that backs growing MSMEs through private investment funds, drawing in private capital alongside its own. Equity, unlike a loan, does not need monthly repayments, which can help a business that wants to expand.
The SRI Fund's figures also show its reach is still limited compared with the size of the sector. It has backed 824 businesses so far, a tiny number against 10 crore registrations, and the briefing did not say how many of those 824 are led by women. Raising that number is the purpose of campaigns like Yashashvini.
Peepals calculation: At 37.6%, women own about 3.76 crore of the 10 crore registrations (10 × 0.376). Reaching 50% with the same total would mean 5 crore women-owned units, about 1.24 crore more (5 − 3.76). The SRI Fund has committed 83% of its corpus (8,305 ÷ 10,000), an average of about Rs 10.1 crore for each of the 824 businesses (8,305 ÷ 824 ≈ 10.08). The nearly Rs 48,000 crore of private capital is about 5.8 times the government's commitments (48,000 ÷ 8,305 ≈ 5.78). Our calculation from the reported figures.
| Item | Figure reported |
|---|---|
| Udyam and Udyam Assist registrations | over 10 crore (30 October 2026) |
| Women-owned share | 37.6% |
| Target share | 50% |
| SRI Fund corpus | Rs 10,000 crore |
| SRI Fund commitments | Rs 8,305 crore, 824 MSMEs |
Impact
Short-term: Women entrepreneurs attending the Yashashvini workshops learn how to reach SRI Fund-backed investors and other schemes linked to Udyam registration.
Long-term: If the 50% goal is pursued with real access to credit and equity, more women-owned micro units could grow into small and medium firms, adding jobs and income in towns and villages.
Who is affected: Women who own or plan to start small businesses; banks and investment funds that lend to or invest in MSMEs; and the MSME Ministry, which runs Udyam, the SRI Fund and the Yashashvini campaign.
Key Takeaway
Women own 37.6% of India's 10 crore-plus Udyam-registered businesses, and the MSME Ministry wants that share at 50%, while pushing its Rs 10,000 crore SRI Fund to back more women-led firms.
Questions and Answers
What share of Udyam-registered businesses do women own?
37.6% of total registrations on the Udyam and Udyam Assist portals, which crossed 10 crore as of 30 October 2026, according to MSME Secretary Bharat Khera.
What is the government's target for women-owned MSMEs?
The MSME Secretary called for raising the women-owned share of registrations to 50%.
What is the SRI Fund?
The Self-Reliant India Fund is a government fund with a Rs 10,000 crore corpus that backs growing MSMEs through private investment funds. It has made commitments of Rs 8,305 crore and supported 824 businesses.
What is the Yashashvini campaign?
It is the MSME Ministry's campaign for women's entrepreneurship, under which the 4 November 2026 workshop on the SRI Fund for women-led MSMEs was held in New Delhi.
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 Priya Nair, Leadership & Growth EditorCovers Leadership & Growth and more for Peepals Shakti. All stories by Priya Nair
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Priya Nair is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
