Mudra Loans: Women Entrepreneurs Corner Bulk of Credit in 10 Years; This Much Sanctioned in FY26 So Far

Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday said over 53.85 crore loan accounts amounting to Rs 35.13 lakh crore have been sanctioned so far under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Out of total loans sanctioned, 67 per cent - 36.04 crore loan accounts involving Rs 15.13 lakh crore have been sanctioned to women entrepreneurs.

Launched in 2015, the scheme offers small-ticket loans up to Rs 20 lakh to enterprises by commercial banks, regional rural banks, small finance banks, non-banking financial companies, and microfinance institutions.

The number of loans to women entrepreneurs peaked at 4.42 crore during FY23, growing from 2.76 crore during FY16 before declining to 3.26 crore during FY25. The loan amount, however, doubled from Rs 1 lakh crore during FY18 to Rs 2.1 lakh crore during FY23 and dropped to Rs 2.08 lakh crore during FY25.

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Importantly, the scheme had recorded a decline in the number of loans sanctioned, amount sanctioned, and amount disbursed for the first time since its launch in FY25, barring the Covid period.

According to the official data, the scheme had reported the lowest number of loans sanctioned since FY17 in the last fiscal. FY25 saw 4.79 crore loans sanctioned to micro enterprises, lowest since 3.97 crore loans sanctioned in FY17. It declined 28 per cent from 6.67 crore sanctioned in FY24. 

The amount had dropped by 7 per cent to Rs 5 lakh crore in FY25 from Rs 5.41 lakh crore in FY24, while the amount disbursed out of the sanctioned amount had declined by 7 per cent to Rs 4.91 lakh crore in FY25 from Rs 5.32 lakh crore in FY24. 

In FY26, 27.3 lakh loans amounting to Rs 20,306 crore were sanctioned so far.

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The Finance Ministry in October last year had increased the Mudra loan limit to Rs 20 lakh from earlier Rs 10 lakh, following the announcement made in the Budget last year on doubling the loan limit by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. 

The ministry had also introduced a new category -- Tarun Plus for loans above Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 20 lakh for entrepreneurs who have repaid their loans under the Tarun category.