Now Reading: Rural women shift microcredit to business growth
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Rural women shift microcredit to business growth
Rural women in India are increasingly using microfinance loans for business purposes such as retail, food processing, tailoring, livestock and agri-allied activities, according to DJT Microfinance COO Avinash Kumar. He told Business…
Rural women in India are increasingly using microfinance loans for business purposes such as retail, food processing, tailoring, livestock and agri-allied activities, according to DJT Microfinance COO Avinash Kumar. He told Business Today that borrowing has become more 'purposeful, diversified and enterprise oriented', driven by greater familiarity with formal financial services and digital payments.
The microfinance sector now serves nearly 5.5 crore unique borrowers through about 7.6 crore active loan accounts, with a portfolio outstanding of approximately Rs 2.77 lakh crore, per SIDBI's Microfinance Pulse (March 2026). Kumar noted that repeat borrowing is tied to business stages, from buying an asset to expanding or diversifying, and that credit should match the borrower's capacity.
Kumar cited a woman in Bihar who expanded her dairy business with a modest loan, later diversified into fodder cultivation, and supported her children's education. Another woman in Uttar Pradesh grew a tailoring unit into a local operation employing other women. However, multiple borrowing and repayment stress remain concerns, with lenders using credit bureau data to assess existing obligations.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Microfinance in India has grown from small consumption loans to a Rs 2.77 lakh crore industry, and this shift toward enterprise lending reflects a maturing sector. The real risk is over-indebtedness: in states like Andhra Pradesh, past crises forced regulatory caps on margins and loan sizes. Today, lenders rely on credit bureau checks to avoid repeat of those defaults. Watch whether the RBI's upcoming microfinance regulations, expected later this year, tighten loan limits or mandate borrower income verification, which could reshape how women access these business loans.
Source: businesstoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
