Unstoppable Force: How Microfinance Supercharged Women Empowerment and Drove Sustainable Development in India (2006-2024)

This study explores women's empowerment through microfinance by focusing on key factors such as savings with banks, access to credit, and loan repayment performance. All these factors fall under the dimension of economic empowerment. The initiative was launched by NABARD across India in 1992.The study utilizes data from the Rural Credit Innovations Department of NABARD for the period 2006-07 to 2023-24 and CPI for rural from RBI. The findings of this study reveal that per SHG savings in real terms for women are higher than for men, with statistical significance at 6% level. The second indicator of women’s empowerment, access to credit in real term, also shows that women have higher per SHG credit compared to men. This factor is highly statistically significant at 1% level. These results highlight the importance of microfinance in enhancing women’s economic empowerment. The combined average percentage of outstanding loans over the years is 69.50% for women, slightly lower than 70.24% for men. This finding suggests that women’s SHGs generally exhibit stronger loan repayment patterns compared to their male counterparts. Microfinance serve as effective tools for promoting women’s empowerment and sustainable development in rural India. Policymakers and stakeholders can leverage these findings to enhance the reach and efficiency of microfinance initiatives, ensuring greater economic and social inclusion for women. The study provides realistic evidence on the impact of microfinance on women’s empowerment in India over an extended period, highlighting its critical role in achieving sustainable development goals.