Page 43 - EDII Report 136

Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India Reports 136 Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India Reports 136

Ahead of Women’s Day, We Recapitulate While EDII has put several artisanal clusters on a high growth path by addressing them

EDII’s Contribution to Women through the cluster approach, it is commendable how even corporates are today
committed to uplifting the weavers of India. The three-year project, HandMade in India,
Entrepreneurship under Corporate supported by HSBC and implemented by EDII, has promoted, skills and competencies
among 1550 weavers, across regions of Bhuj, Gujarat and Erode, Tamil Nadu. From 596

Partnerships women artisans and weavers reached out till date, last year 393 women developed
capabilities in design, networking, innovation and credit management, which reflected in
their productivity, brand development and revenues. This led to establishment of 82
Talking about the significance of Sustainable Development Goals, the fifth goal especially women owned enterprises.
draws our attention, for it says, ‘Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all girls and
women.’ Under its CSR partnerships, EDII experiments with various models, perspectives Project Skills to Succeed - Micro Skillpreneurship Development Programme (MSDP),
and strategies to evolve a curriculum that renders self-sufficiency and economic & social supported by Accenture Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is mandated to empower rural youth & women
empowerment to women. These are ongoing initiatives. Let us delve into some of these by providing skill & Enterprise creation training through sustainable technology and
undertaken over the last one year: business models. Women have notably benefitted by livelihood creation, employment
generation, asset creation and revenue generation on a sustainable basis. The project is
being implemented in selected regions in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Karnataka,
Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand. In the last one year, the project ensured training to 8066 women,
resulting in the creation of 3207 women-owned enterprises. Collectively, the beneficiaries
availed loans worth Rs. 34.16 lakh.

Women entrepreneur trained
Project RISE, supported by Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), focuses on under Project Skills to Succeed
Technology-Based Entrepreneurship among women. During the financial year 2025–26, - Micro Skillpreneurship
Development Programme
1,277 women were trained, leading to establishment of 252 women-owned enterprises,
( M S D P ) , s u p p o r t e d b y
including 58 group enterprises and 194 individual enterprises. Through EDII-supported Accenture Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
market linkage initiatives including exhibitions, wholesale channels and institutional
markets access—women entrepreneurs notched approximately Rs. 2.4 Crore in sales
during the year.
Another Accenture Pvt. Ltd. supported initiative, the Women Entrepreneurs Access
Project Sankalp, supported by Standard Chartered Bank, focuses on building the skills and Connect Transform (WeAct) provides EDII trained women entrepreneurs with platforms
entrepreneurial capabilities of rural women in selected 10 locations of Karnataka and for market access, business growth and peer learning. Among other activities, WeAct
Tamil Nadu states through Skill-based Entrepreneurship Development Programmes. members participated more than 21 Vocal for Local exhibitions across Bihar, Gujarat,
Under the project, 726 women entrepreneurs successfully completed skill-based training. Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil
The initiative facilitated 235 Udyam registrations, formation of 49 women Self-Help Nadu and Assam. Over 1500 WeAct members participated, reaching out to a huge and
Groups (SHGs) and 294 FSSAI registrations, ensuring compliance and formal recognition. diverse client base and recording a total approximate sale of more than Rs. 7 Lakh.
Additionally, 420 women entrepreneurs received post-training handholding and
enterprise support through WeAct.

42 43