Priya
India’s economy is growing rapidly. According to recent estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to reach around USD 4.19 trillion by 2025, making it the world’s fourth-largest economy. This impressive growth has been fueled by industrialization, urban development, and a booming service sector over the past two decades.
However, this rise has mostly followed a linear economic model—where natural resources are taken, used, and then discarded. While this model has contributed to short-term economic gains, it has also led to serious environmental problems, including air and water pollution, deforestation, and biodiversity loss.
In response, there’s now an urgent need to shift towards development models that are not just economically sound, but also environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. One powerful alternative is green entrepreneurship—an approach that combines sustainability, circular economy principles, and community-based innovation, while also addressing issues like livelihood generation and equity.
For green entrepreneurship to truly make a difference, it must center those who are already deeply connected to the environment—people whose daily lives involve caring for nature but who have often been left out of formal enterprise systems. Among these are marginalized groups, especially women, who are not only among the most affected by environmental harm, but also key caretakers of natural resources.
Across India, women have traditionally managed seeds, soil, water, and household energy—often without recognition. Their experience gives them a unique advantage in creating environmentally sustainable solutions. In fact, many women-led enterprises work in green sectors like organic farming, decentralized waste management, eco-tourism, and clean energy. These businesses are usually deeply connected to their communities and often draw on traditional ecological knowledge.
Yet, despite their contributions and potential, women’s roles in green entrepreneurship remain under-recognized and under-supported. Empowering them through targeted support can lead to better environmental outcomes, stronger community resilience, and more equitable development.
According to the Sixth Economic Census, India had about 8.05 million women-led establishments, making up 13.76% of all enterprises. But while a few high-profile women entrepreneurs have gained visibility in India’s startup scene, the bigger picture is still unequal. Today, less than 1% of Indian women are entrepreneurs—putting the country well below the global average. This gap is due to many challenges, including lack of collateral, gender bias in venture capital, and the informal nature of most women-led businesses.
Although recent government policies have tried to boost women’s entrepreneurship, they are scattered and often disconnected from India’s green goals. Many schemes help bring more women into the entrepreneurial ecosystem, but few are designed to promote clean technologies, sustainability, or nature-based businesses. This leaves a major opportunity gap: aligning gender inclusion with climate action remains a missed chance.
On the other hand, India has introduced several policies to promote eco-friendly industries. But these “green” policies rarely include women as a specific focus, meaning that while women might benefit occasionally, their participation is not built into the system. As a result, women remain on the margins of many green initiatives—even though they have the ability to lead real, transformative change.
Some programs do stand out. The Mahila Coir Yojana, for example, supports women in the eco-friendly coir industry. The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) helps women’s self-help groups (SHGs) pursue green livelihoods like composting, organic farming, and recycling. And grassroots models like the Solar Saheli initiative train rural women to sell solar energy products in their communities.
These examples show the power of combining gender and environmental goals. When women are not just passive recipients of green technologies, but active participants—as designers, producers, and distributors—everyone benefits. The result is better environmental impact, deeper community outreach, and fairer economic development. But right now, these kinds of dual-focus programs are rare and not yet part of India’s broader policy system.
Our analysis shows that most current schemes do not integrate gender and green priorities in a cohesive way. Financial schemes are too general. Skill development programs are not connected to green jobs. And there are weak links between training, finance, mentorship, and market access. This reveals a clear opportunity: with the right policy innovations—ones that are inclusive and targeted—women can become central players in India’s shift to a sustainable, circular economy.
About the contributor: Priya is a recent graduate from University of Delhi. She is a fellow of EPAYF 2.0 – Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship, Cohort 2.0.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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Acknowledgement: This article was posted by Khushboo Dandona, a research intern at IMPRI.
