Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for the eighth consecutive time for the financial year 2025-26. During this, the Finance Minister also made some announcements for half the population of the country i.e. women. Let us know what was special for women in the budget.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget in the Lok Sabha on Saturday. During this, she said that the government will launch a loan of Rs 2 crore for five lakh women, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs starting enterprises for the first time. There has been a big increase in the participation of women in the Indian economy in the last few years. However, apart from the loan scheme for women entrepreneurs, no major announcements have been made for the women category.
Loan scheme to women entrepreneurs
The government has launched a new scheme in the budget for women of SC-ST category who are becoming entrepreneurs for the first time, under which term loans of up to Rs 2 crore will be made available to female entrepreneurs in the next five years. At the same time, under the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 scheme, it has been said to provide nutrition to eight crore pregnant and lactating women and girls. According to PIB data, the rate of participation of females in the workforce is 41%, which is lower than the global average. In view of this, the government is emphasizing on women empowerment in Budget 2025.
Important announcements have also been made for the MSME sector in the budget
While presenting the Union Budget for 2025-26, the Finance Minister also said that a manufacturing mission would be set up for SMEs and large industries. Apart from this, the government will take convenient measures to increase the productivity of labor-intensive sectors. He said that the loan guarantee ‘cover’ will be doubled to Rs 20 crore and the guarantee fee will be reduced to one percent. The Finance Minister also announced the establishment of the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management in Bihar.
