The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has emerged as a powerful tool for women’s financial empowerment, with women accounting for 68% of the scheme’s 52 crore beneficiaries, according to a report by the State Bank of India’s (SBI) Economic Research Department released on Wednesday.
Over the last nine fiscals (FY16 to FY25), the per-woman PMMY loan disbursement grew at a CAGR of 13%, reaching Rs. 62,679, while incremental deposits per woman rose by 14% CAGR to Rs. 95,269, highlighting the scheme’s impact in fostering financial independence.
The report praised PMMY for bringing entrepreneurially underrepresented social groups into the financial mainstream. Notably, nearly 50% of PMMY accounts belong to SC/ST and OBC categories, with 11% from minority groups.
Among states, Bihar leads in the number of women PMMY entrepreneurs (4.2 crore), followed by Tamil Nadu (4.0 crore) and West Bengal (3.7 crore). Meanwhile, Maharashtra has the highest share of women account holders (79%), followed by Jharkhand (75%) and West Bengal (73%).
The average loan ticket size has seen significant growth, nearly tripling from Rs. 38,000 in FY16 to Rs. 1.02 lakh in FY25. Since its inception, PMMY has sanctioned 52.07 crore loans worth Rs. 33.19 lakh crore (as of February 28).
PMMY, launched under the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA), facilitates collateral-free loans up to Rs. 20 lakh through Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), and Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).
The loan category mix has also evolved, with the share of Shishu loans (smallest loan category) dropping from 93% in FY16 to 51.7% in FY25, while Kishor loans (mid-range category) grew from 5.9% to 44.7%. This shift indicates that many Shishu borrowers have expanded their businesses and moved to higher loan brackets, reflecting growth in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The SBI report underscores PMMY’s transformative role in fostering entrepreneurship and economic inclusion among women and marginalized communities, strengthening their financial standing and business potential.
(With IANS inputs)
