GUWAHATI, Dec 31 ? Finding women entrepreneurs are more sincere in repaying loans, the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi) has launched a special scheme to promote women enterprises in the New Year. The Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the NEDFi, J P Saikia told this newspaper that soft loans as well as term loans upto maximum amount of Rs 4.25 lakh would be provided to women entrepreneurs under the scheme with repayment period ranging from three years to five years.
?The NEDFi is trying to help sincere women entrepreneurs who have been running from pillar to post to get loans from banks which demand high collateral security beyond the means of these entrepreneurs.? Saikia said. NEDFi?s Women Enterprises Development Scheme will facilitate loans sans any collateral security to secure a better tomorrow to the women entrepreneurs in the tribal North East where women have been taking an active part in economic activities of a household.
Under the exclusively for women scheme, the NEDFi will provide loan for ?any? viable income generating activity. It will also provide loan for expansion of existing business ventures run by women in the region. The target group of the new scheme is entrepreneurs in the age group of 18-50 years. The only eligibility for securing loans under the scheme is any sort of income generating scheme found viable by the NEDFi. Although women already into business and enterprises would be preferred, first generation entrepreneurs will also be encouraged under the scheme.
The NEDFi will finance 85 per cent of the total project cost. The total loan amount will have two components ? soft loan (25 %) and term loan (60 %). The soft loan component will be the equity provided by the NEDFi which will impose 11 % interest on the term loan component. Effectively, the loanee will be required to pay interest at the rate of around 8.5 per cent only.
The project cost including the working capital under the scheme should not exceed Rs 5 lakh. The repayment period will range from three years to seven years depending upon the character of the venture as well as the loan amount. The CMD said that the special scheme was devised in such a way that women willing run business with very tiny amount would be eligible to get financial assistance under it. ?With the launching of the scheme small time and first generation women entrepreneurs will no longer have the reason to complain about lack of finance to either start or expand a venture,? he said.