From institutional support to funding: What women entrepreneurs expect from Budget 2022
To enable academic incubation centres in women-only colleges effective, there can be provisions in the budget for funding the most innovative prototypes created by students.
- Jan 21, 2022,
- Updated Jan 21, 2022 12:10 PM IST
The years 2020-2022 have been a long haul for the world to slowly get back to the normal or the new normal as it is being called. The economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt by economies of the largest nations with the changing geopolitical economic climate over the past two years.
This opportunity has been taken up well by many of the fastest-growing economies in the world and India has fared especially well in this new world order.
The World Bank has retained the expectation on the growth of the Indian economy expansion to 8.3 per cent in the fiscal year 2021/22 (ending March 2022), which is similar to the forecast from June 2021 as the recovery hasn't become as broad-based.
Also Read: Budget 2022 should focus on adequate measures to support women-led businesses
The union budget of 2021 focused on aspects of the economy, which have yielded great results in focus sectors, such as infrastructure, banking and health.
The support extended to MSMEs under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat have softened the blow the pandemic dealt many entrepreneurs, notably women across MSME and startups, especially the focus on the Sankalp of Women Empowerment.
There were several mechanisms in Budget 2021, which helped create opportunities for start-ups across health, sustainability, hygiene and sanitation.
The Indian start-ups innovated and have won big with 46 unicorns created in 2021 alone, which is double the number in 2020. India is now one of the three largest hubs for unicorns alongside China and the UK. It is also heartening to have 13 women-led unicorns in India with eight of them having emerged in 2021 alone.
Much of this momentum is due to the huge influx of VC investment into startups. Many of the startups look set to be entering 2022 with the same buoyancy seen in 2021.
While the budget 2021 had provisions for supporting MSMEs, it did not have the expected outcomes for women-led businesses and MSMEs.
When it comes to MSMEs it is a different story. Much of the effect of the pandemic has been on the MSMEs and many of them are still having trouble with recovering to pre-pandemic levels.
Also Read: How fintechs can help catalyse growth for women-led SMEs in India
Given that women form a big part of the MSME sector, the expectations from Budget 2022 are huge. While the budget 2021 had provisions for supporting MSMEs it did not have the expected outcomes for women-led businesses and MSMEs.
With the impetus of creating more innovation starting at the college level, NEP has created great enthusiasm among academia.
The budget can make provisions for funding the most innovative prototypes created by students to enable academic incubation centres in women-only colleges, which will enable more young women to not only explore entrepreneurship but also create startups as well.
The assistance from the MITRA scheme and the moratorium support was appreciated, but the opportunity for providing financial and institutional support to businesses, which are collectives, enterprises and start-ups, was overlooked.
It would be something a lot of women-led businesses are looking forward to in 2022. Upfront support in terms of working capital and interest-free loans would be highly beneficial for women-led MSMEs, which provide local employment and enable women to be job creators instead of being job seekers.
For corporations and institutions that led the charge in terms of employability, the budget 2022 can provide additional incentives for employers who support their workforce in upskilling, hiring more women as part of the workforce. It would create a huge opportunity for increasing women's participation in the workforce.
With the impetus of creating more innovation starting at the college level, NEP has created great enthusiasm among academia.
To enable academic incubation centres in women-only colleges effective, there can be provisions in the budget for funding the most innovative prototypes created by students. This will enable more female students to not just explore entrepreneurship but also have a pathway to creating startups.
(The author is CEO, WE HUB.)
The years 2020-2022 have been a long haul for the world to slowly get back to the normal or the new normal as it is being called. The economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt by economies of the largest nations with the changing geopolitical economic climate over the past two years.
This opportunity has been taken up well by many of the fastest-growing economies in the world and India has fared especially well in this new world order.
The World Bank has retained the expectation on the growth of the Indian economy expansion to 8.3 per cent in the fiscal year 2021/22 (ending March 2022), which is similar to the forecast from June 2021 as the recovery hasn't become as broad-based.
Also Read: Budget 2022 should focus on adequate measures to support women-led businesses
The union budget of 2021 focused on aspects of the economy, which have yielded great results in focus sectors, such as infrastructure, banking and health.
The support extended to MSMEs under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat have softened the blow the pandemic dealt many entrepreneurs, notably women across MSME and startups, especially the focus on the Sankalp of Women Empowerment.
There were several mechanisms in Budget 2021, which helped create opportunities for start-ups across health, sustainability, hygiene and sanitation.
The Indian start-ups innovated and have won big with 46 unicorns created in 2021 alone, which is double the number in 2020. India is now one of the three largest hubs for unicorns alongside China and the UK. It is also heartening to have 13 women-led unicorns in India with eight of them having emerged in 2021 alone.
Much of this momentum is due to the huge influx of VC investment into startups. Many of the startups look set to be entering 2022 with the same buoyancy seen in 2021.
While the budget 2021 had provisions for supporting MSMEs, it did not have the expected outcomes for women-led businesses and MSMEs.
When it comes to MSMEs it is a different story. Much of the effect of the pandemic has been on the MSMEs and many of them are still having trouble with recovering to pre-pandemic levels.
Also Read: How fintechs can help catalyse growth for women-led SMEs in India
Given that women form a big part of the MSME sector, the expectations from Budget 2022 are huge. While the budget 2021 had provisions for supporting MSMEs it did not have the expected outcomes for women-led businesses and MSMEs.
With the impetus of creating more innovation starting at the college level, NEP has created great enthusiasm among academia.
The budget can make provisions for funding the most innovative prototypes created by students to enable academic incubation centres in women-only colleges, which will enable more young women to not only explore entrepreneurship but also create startups as well.
The assistance from the MITRA scheme and the moratorium support was appreciated, but the opportunity for providing financial and institutional support to businesses, which are collectives, enterprises and start-ups, was overlooked.
It would be something a lot of women-led businesses are looking forward to in 2022. Upfront support in terms of working capital and interest-free loans would be highly beneficial for women-led MSMEs, which provide local employment and enable women to be job creators instead of being job seekers.
For corporations and institutions that led the charge in terms of employability, the budget 2022 can provide additional incentives for employers who support their workforce in upskilling, hiring more women as part of the workforce. It would create a huge opportunity for increasing women's participation in the workforce.
With the impetus of creating more innovation starting at the college level, NEP has created great enthusiasm among academia.
To enable academic incubation centres in women-only colleges effective, there can be provisions in the budget for funding the most innovative prototypes created by students. This will enable more female students to not just explore entrepreneurship but also have a pathway to creating startups.
(The author is CEO, WE HUB.)