Awareness and Impact of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) on Women MSME Entrepreneurs in Chhattisgarh, India

The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is a government initiative designed to provide financial assistance to micro and small enterprises, with a particular focus on encouraging entrepreneurship among women entrepreneurs. By extending credit to underserved segments, MUDRA seeks to unlock the entrepreneurial potential within the informal sector, driving economic inclusivity and sustainable development. It specifically targets micro-enterprises, which often struggle to secure traditional bank loans due to their small scale and lack of collateral. The present study aims to examine the awareness level of women micro, small and medium entrepreneurs of Durg, Chhattisgarh, India, towards PMMY schemes and its influence on financial inclusion, financial empowerment and access to financial assistance through the PMMY scheme. A quantitative approach was used to collect the responses from the sampled 280 women micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs of Durg, Chhattisgarh, India. A pilot study was conducted, and then a self-structured questionnaire was developed. The data was collected from the respondents through face-to-face interviews through a validated questionnaire. The collected data was fed into the Excel spreadsheet for further analysis. The data were tabulated and statistically analysed by t-test and analyses of variance (ANOVA) at (p≤0.05) level of significance. The data was analysed using SPSS or XLSTAT software. The results confirm that there has been a significant (p≤0.001) growth in the amount sanctioned (in crore) and amount disbursed (in crore) to the PMMY women entrepreneurs from FY 2015-16 to FY 2023-24. The Chi-square (independence test) calculated value confirmed that the PMMY scheme has significantly (p≤0.001) brought financial inclusion among the women entrepreneurs of Durg, Chhattisgarh. The mean score values of responses from respondents indicate that the women micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs of Durg, Chhattisgarh, have a high level of awareness regarding the tested indicators of awareness towards the PMMY scheme. The predictor analysis (regression analysis) reported that awareness among women micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs is a significant (p≤0.001) predictor of acquiring financial assistance under PMMY schemes by the sampled women entrepreneurs. Future studies are required to identify the major challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in acquiring and utilising PMMY loans, despite the reported high awareness levels.