Women are emerging as the backbone of India’s economic growth, with rising workforce participation, entrepreneurial ventures, and leadership roles driving the nation’s march towards Viksit Bharat by 2047.
According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the women’s workforce participation rate (WPR) has nearly doubled from 22% in 2017-18 to 40.3% in 2023-24. The unemployment rate for women has also dropped from 5.6% to 3.2% in the same period. Rural India has witnessed the sharpest rise, with female employment growing by 96%, while urban areas recorded a 43% increase.
The employability of women graduates has steadily improved, reaching 47.53% in 2024, compared to 42% in 2013. Among women with postgraduate and higher education, the employment rate has risen from 34.5% in 2017-18 to 40% in 2023-24. Meanwhile, the India Skills Report 2025 projects that 55% of Indian graduates will be globally employable in 2025, up from 51.2% last year.
EPFO payroll data shows that over 1.56 crore women have joined the formal sector workforce in the past seven years. Simultaneously, the e-Shram portal has registered more than 16.69 crore women workers from the unorganised sector, giving them access to social security schemes.
Government initiatives have been pivotal in this transformation. Over 70 central schemes and 400 state-level schemes are supporting female entrepreneurship. Female self-employment has grown by 30% in recent years, with the share rising from 51.9% in 2017-18 to 67.4% in 2023-24.
Gender budgeting has seen a four-fold jump over the last decade, from ₹0.85 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to ₹4.49 lakh crore in FY 2025-26. Flagship initiatives such as Startup India, Namo Drone Didi, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – NRLM, and Lakhpati Didi are equipping women with new opportunities. Nearly 50% of DPIIT-registered startups have at least one woman director, while two crore women have become Lakhpati Didi.
Financial inclusion programmes have also empowered women. Under the PM Mudra Yojana, women have received 68% of the total loans — more than 35.38 crore loans worth ₹14.72 lakh crore. Similarly, 44% of beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi are women.
Women-led MSMEs are emerging as engines of economic expansion, creating over 89 lakh additional jobs for women between FY21 and FY23. Their share in proprietary establishments has grown from 17.4% in 2010-11 to 26.2% in 2023-24, with the number of women-led MSMEs nearly doubling to 1.92 crore in the same period.
