Practical Strategies to Catalyse Women-Led Access-To-Energy Ventures in India

From the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Shell Foundation and the UK Government commissioned the ICRW to conduct research on the key challenges women-led ventures face in setting up an energy business in India, and provide recommendations on how key actors in the ecosystem could attract and support women in the sector.

ICRW analysed 23 enterprise development programmes (EDPs) in India and identified four challenge areas:

Challenge 1: Women entrepreneurs are not participating in EDPs at equal rates as men. Challenge 2: Female entrepreneurs often do not have access to the same services and networks that male entrepreneurs do. In addition, services provided by EDPs are often not tailored to the needs of female entrepreneurs. Challenge 3: Investment gaps persist in women-led and co-led ventures. Challenge 4: Government of India (GOI) programmes have limited impact on female entrepreneurs, as deserving women-led ventures are not accessing or benefitting optimally from many GOI schemes.

The report presents solutions to these challenges in a series of tables and practical recommendations, addressed to three main categories of actors: EDPs, investors, and government partners. Each solution is categorised by time frame, potential impact, resource needs and gender focus.