United Way Mumbai, HSBC India and Partners to Expand Credit Access for 300,000 Women

Mumbai, September 3, 2026: United Way Mumbai (UWM), Women’s World Banking (WWB) and HSBC India have joined hands to support 300,000 women across Maharashtra, Assam and Bihar with timely and affordable credit for the growth of rural micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the respective State Rural Livelihood Missions. It builds on the Prayaas Individual Enterprise Scheme (IES), a “Credit for the women, by the women” model that enables individual Self-Help Group (SHG) members to access collateral-free loans of ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh through women-led community-based organisations (CBOs).

Under the model, CBOs act as partner institutions responsible for sourcing borrowers, servicing loans and collections. A convening in Mumbai brought together representatives from rural livelihood missions, CBOs, development partners and women entrepreneurs to discuss the Prayaas experience and pathways for expanding enterprise finance.

The programme’s potential scale was a key focus of the discussions. Based on NRLM data and Women’s World Banking research, around 29.5 million SHG women are associated with “Model CBOs”, including an estimated 7.39 million women entrepreneurs. Of these, approximately 4.73 million are estimated to require individual loans in the ₹50,000 to ₹5 lakh range. With an average ticket size of ₹1.15 lakh, this represents an estimated ₹65,800 crore lending opportunity.

Delivering the keynote, Shri Amit Shukla, Joint Secretary-NRLM, Ministry of Rural Development, said, “The Government has launched numerous measures to support women in transitioning from credit-linked livelihood activities to becoming owners of enterprises. Around 3.85 million women-led enterprises are seeking credit, representing a ₹12,388 crore opportunity in the ₹5 lakh to ₹20 lakh segment. Solutions such as Prayaas can help unlock this potential and advance the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. I encourage all State Rural Livelihood Missions to partner in making Prayaas a national initiative for women-led enterprise growth.”

Shri Prakash Kumar, Deputy Managing Director, SIDBI, said, “Prayaas has evolved into an innovative, gender-intentional model that combines the reach and trust of women-led community institutions with formal finance. Its expansion from one state to four demonstrates both the strength of the approach and its potential for scale. SIDBI is committed to expanding the IES by reaching out to a larger number of women micro enterprises through Cluster Level Federations and working with State Rural Livelihood Missions across India so that more women entrepreneurs can access timely and affordable credit for growing their enterprises.”

Aloka Majumdar, MD and Head of Sustainability, HSBC India, said, “We are committed to expanding access to knowledge, capabilities, capital and networks for women entrepreneurs, which we believe are foundational to grow sustainable enterprises. Over the past decade, Government of India’s initiatives have accelerated financial inclusion by expanding access to bank accounts and digital payments, bringing formal finance closer to women. The next frontier of building financial capabilities will centre around enabling more women to use the financial system developed thus far, to build enterprises that generate income, create jobs and make our household and communities financially resilient.”

Kalpana Ajayan, Regional Head, South Asia, Women’s World Banking, said, “Prayaas shows how women-led community intelligence can strengthen formal lending and make rural women entrepreneurs more visible and bankable. As India’s apex financial institution for MSMEs, SIDBI’s vision and commitment to women-led micro and small enterprises can transform India’s journey towards inclusive economic empowerment. By placing women’s realities at the centre of credit delivery, Prayaas offers a viable, scalable model of finance for women, delivered by women.”

George Aikara, CEO, United Way Mumbai, said, “Prayaas demonstrates how trusted, women-led community institutions can connect rural women entrepreneurs to formal finance at scale. By combining local borrower knowledge with streamlined lending and capability building, the model creates an efficient, gender-intentional pathway to productive credit. United Way Mumbai remains committed to strengthening livelihoods, and this collaboration across government, industry, civil society, and community institutions is essential to address India’s interconnected challenges and advance inclusive progress.”

SIDBI has since regularised the IES and plans to expand it across existing states while exploring outreach to additional states through discussions with State Rural Livelihood Missions.