Agriculture Minister to Chair Meeting to Push Greater Credit Access for SHGs & Rural Women Entrepreneurs

New Delhi, Sep 2 (KNN) A high-level meeting on Self Help Group (SHG)-bank linkages and individual enterprise financing will be held in Mumbai on September 3, 2026, to review credit access and financing support for women-led rural enterprises.

The meeting will be chaired by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development. 

Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications, Kamlesh Paswan, Minister of State for Rural Development, and the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister of Maharashtra will also attend.

Senior representatives from the Reserve Bank of India, Department of Financial Services, public and private sector banks, Regional Rural Banks, cooperative banks, NABARD, PFRDA, Central Ministries and State Rural Livelihoods Missions will participate.

Discussions will focus on doubling the individual enterprise credit portfolio, increasing the average loan disbursement to SHGs, reducing loan processing time, expanding credit linkage among remaining SHGs, particularly in difficult regions, and strengthening cooperative credit institutions at the District Central Cooperative Bank and Primary Agricultural Credit Society levels.

The deliberations will contribute to the future action plan under the Financial Inclusion 2.0 vision, aimed at improving timely and adequate credit for SHGs, financing women-led enterprises and expanding access to financial services in rural areas.

The Ministry of Rural Development's Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) has mobilised more than 10 crore rural women into over 93 lakh SHGs and their federations. Banks have cumulatively disbursed over Rs. 13.67 lakh crore in credit to SHGs.

The institutional credit flow has supported women-led livelihood enterprises, with 3.46 crore women emerging as Lakhpati Didis. The meeting will focus on strengthening finance for these enterprises and supporting their transition into sustainable rural businesses.

(KNN Bureau)