Indian Law Neds to Account for Women, Make Finance Inclusive

theprint.in

For decades, India’s economic and financial growth story has suffered due to a critical missing piece: women. Women across all segments, be it entrepreneurs or retail customers, face multiple barriers in accessing finance in an equitable manner. These are spread across legal, socio-cultural and infrastructural barriers such as restricted mobility, lack of traditional collateral, lower ownership of mobile phones and access to internet, lower financial literacy levels, to name a few. Research suggests that the business case for a financial institution to serve women customers is strong and adding a gender lens to existing laws and financial products is crucial. For instance, the unmet credit gap for women-owned enterprises is 70.37 per cent, which translates to a financing gap of Rs 1.37 lakh crore and presents a huge market opportunity for financial institutions. Read More