Press Releases 2005

Investment in Indian Women Entrepreneurs Leverages Economic Growth

USAID Co-sponsors BizWomen Conference in Bangalore on August 6, 2005.

06 August 2005

NEW DELHI -- Around 200 Indian women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs gathered in Bangalore today to discuss how women business owners can play a significant role by growing their companies into prominent corporations and, in the process, leverage India's economic growth.

The BizWomen Conference, 2005, organized by the Small Enterprise Assistance Fund (SEAF) and co-sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other prominent international and local organizations presented to the delegates of women entrepreneurs practical strategies and lessons learned from across the globe in growing businesses.
 
The presence of Union Minister of Finance  P. Chidambaram as the Chief Guest indicated the importance that GOI places on job creation through business development, and the growing role of women in the economy.  USAID India Director George Deikun spoke at the inaugural session and Ms. Rajshree Pathy, CMD- Rajshree Group of Companies expressed her views in her role of the keynote speaker.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Deikun said: "A vibrant private sector particularly small and medium enterprises play a significant role in a country's economic growth. This is as true for the US as it is for India. The emergence of women entrepreneurs and their significant contribution to the economy is now visible in India and the benefit can be seen.  Families are healthier and better fed and their income and savings go up."
 
According to data from the Small Business Administration, USA during 2000 America's 25.5 million small businesses generated more than half of the nation's gross domestic product; created 80 percent of all the net new jobs in the United States and employed 52 percent of the private sector work force. According to the Asian Development Bank, registered small-scale industries (SSI) in India accounted for 40 percent of industrial output, 35 percent of export revenues and 45 percent of formal industrial employment.

These numbers may underestimate the real significance of small business for employment since a majority of the small enterprises in India operate in the informal sector. Women's primary entrepreneurial activities are focused on the small and medium enterprise sector, although there are a number of firms that have been successfully grown to medium and large corporations by dynamic Indian women entrepreneurs.

The venture capital fund, the "India Growth Fund", is primed to invest in dynamic, locally owned enterprises that would otherwise be ignored in the equity marketplace. USAID seed capital of $5 million, combined with the SEAF's focus on post-investment business development, sparked the interest of financiers and generated additional funding from Indian banks, institutional and individual investors as well as international investors.

In October, 2004 Kotak Mahindra Bank and SEAF successfully launched the fund with commitments of over $50 million; another $70-80 million is expected by the end of the 2005.  India Growth Fund has reviewed more than 200 projects and has selectively invested in two small and medium size firms, with additional plans to invest its total corpus in other Indian corporates over the next three to four years.