Indian women can slowly and steadily transform India’s economy as entrepreneurs

Over the past decade, the rise in women-led enterprises has been one of the most significant shifts in the global entrepreneurial landscape. In India alone, women now represent nearly 18% of total entrepreneurs, a figure that continues to grow steadily year after year. What is more impressive is the diversity of sectors they are entering- from technology and finance to social impact, sustainability, and creative industries.

This growth is rooted in a powerful mix of ambition, resilience, and purpose. As traditional career paths are changing, many women are turning to entrepreneurship as a means of independence and impact. From the tech founder in Bengaluru who is creating artificial intelligence-powered educational tools to the rural entrepreneur in Rajasthan who is leading a self-help group that produces eco-friendly packaging, women are redefining success.

Breaking the Bias, Building Ecosystems

But such a journey is never devoid of its challenges. Women entrepreneurs often have to struggle through systemic barriers-limited access to finance, lack of mentorship networks, and deep-rooted social biases. Research has identified less than 2% of venture capital funding globally flows to women-led startups, reflecting how persistent the gender gap is.

A quiet revolution is sweeping across the rural heartlands of India-powered by women who are turning self-reliance into enterprise. From organic honey produced by self-help groups in Odisha to sustainable handicrafts and food products made by collectives in Madhya Pradesh, rural women are redefining what entrepreneurship means at the grassroots. Across the drought-prone Bankura in West Bengal to the tribal heartland of Jharkhand and the remote pockets of Madhya Pradesh, women are leading enterprises rooted in farming, livestock, and bio-resources. Their ventures- whether cultivating high-value crops, producing organic compost, managing goat-rearing networks, or running farmer collectives are creating income, employment, and community resilience.

An enabling ecosystem of support has begun to take shape, nurturing women’s social and economic empowerment. A diverse set of projects and initiatives strengthened through collaborations with organizations such as PRADAN, support from CSR partners and philanthropies, and government-backed credit programmes is expanding women’s access to finance, skills, information, and market opportunities. Together, these efforts are enabling rural women to navigate and overcome long-standing structural and gendered barriers, and to pursue enterprises that were previously beyond reach due to restrictive social norms and limited resources.

Most inspiring, perhaps, is how these women are creating strong, interdependent communities in the process. As many become first-generation entrepreneurs, they are not only creating livelihoods but also lifting up others: employing local women, training young girls, and reinvesting earnings back into their villages.

Women’s Collectives have been central to shifting narratives around women’s roles from being confined to unpaid and unrecognised care work at home to becoming leaders of local economic revitalisation. By strengthening voice, agency, and collective action, these collectives are paving inclusive pathways toward sustainable and gender-equitable development.

Tech, Creativity, and the New Economy

Technology is emerging as a powerful equalizer for women entrepreneurs, especially in rural India, bridging barriers of geography, mobility, and access. Digital tools, solar innovations, and agri-tech solutions are enabling women to manage enterprises with greater efficiency and autonomy. Mobile-based applications now allow women to access weather forecasts, market prices, and digital payments, empowering them to make informed business decisions and directly sell produce without middlemen. Solar-powered technologies such as irrigation pumps, dryers, and automated bio-input units have reduced manual drudgery and expanded productivity. Digital literacy initiatives and e-commerce platforms are also helping women market their products beyond local boundaries, connecting them to larger consumer bases.

New frontiers have also opened through social media, e-commerce, and fin-tech, allowing women to convert ideas into scalable businesses with hardly any barrier to entry. Indeed, online platforms have empowered scores of women, especially from Tier-2 and -3 cities, to start online businesses-from selling handmade crafts and fashion boutiques to offering home-cooked meal delivery services.

Need for women entrepreneurs in rural India  

As more rural women step into leadership roles, the ripple effects are transformative. Young girls now see women like themselves owning land, managing producer collectives, leading local enterprises, and making key financial and business decisions, expanding what they believe is possible for their own futures. To sustain and deepen this shift, affordable credit, gender-responsive market infrastructure, digital literacy, and inclusive policies are essential. These measures help address structural gender gaps that have historically limited women’s access to resources, information, and mobility.

It is therefore critical that governments, NGOs, private actors, and community institutions continue investing in an enabling ecosystem where rural women can establish, grow, and sustain profitable enterprises. This requires reinforcing safety, mobility, and shared responsibilities within households and communities, while actively challenging restrictive gender norms. When more stakeholders champion women’s economic empowerment and strengthen women’s collectives and leadership pathways, they contribute to shaping a future where rural women’s economic agency is recognized, valued, and central to local development.

As we celebrate Women's Entrepreneurship Day 2025, it is significant that people, communities and government think of building entrepreneurs in rural India too. More and more women entrepreneurs in rural India, will bring in economic resilience and community progress. They can transform villages, help more women in the villages and uplift the entire rural eco-system. It can create a huge impact on diminishing poverty in the underserved regions. When rural women thrive, entire ecosystems flourish, productivity surges, families prosper, and the cycle of empowerment goes on.