Women entrepreneurs in India – Study of opportunities and challenges

This paper is focusing to identify strategies and policies which could create an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs and/or would-be entrepreneurs in India. It aims to provide a set of practical and policy-worthy recommendations to promote the healthy growth of entrepreneurial activities and enterprises owned by women. The paper finds that socio-cultural factors represent important barriers to women's entrepreneurial activities, while combining work and family life is also a challenge for a majority of women entrepreneurs. According to the study, support for starting an enterprise came essentially from informal sources, with a very small proportion of women having sought help from Government schemes and programmes. The study concludes with a wide range of recommendations to promote a more enabling environment for women's entrepreneurship in India.