Five Fold Credit Portfolio Expansion Since 2017 Puts Women at the Centre of India’s Growth Story

• Credit penetration among women rises to 36% in 2025, with portfolio expanding 4.8x since 2017

• Business loans emerge as the fastest growing segment for women borrowers, rising from 16% in 2017 to 25% in 2025

• Lower entry barriers due to rapid digitisation of the credit process, and graduation beyond entry-level credit towards retail and business-purpose lending, stand out as key highlights of economic participation of women

Mumbai, 08 April 2026 – Women borrowers in India now hold a credit portfolio of ₹76 lakh crore, accounting for 26% of total system credit.

According to ‘From Borrowers to Builders: Women and India’s Evolving Credit Market’, a report jointly published by NITI Aayog, TransUnion CIBIL, MicroSave Consulting (MSC), and the Women Entrepreneurship Platform, women’s credit exposure has expanded 4.8x since 2017—signalling a transition from access led inclusion to progression led participation, as more women move into higher value retail and business lending.

Between December 2017 and December 2025, the number of credit active women borrowers grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9%. Credit penetration among women has increased from 19% in 2017 to 36% in 2025, with over one in three credit-eligible women now participating in the formal credit system. With nearly 45 crore credit-eligible women in India, the opportunity for further expansion remains significant.

Rapid digitisation across identity, payments, underwriting, and loan servicing is lowering some entry barriers and accelerating women’s transition from informal borrowing to scalable, structured financial pathways.

Current State of Women Borrowers in India’s Credit Market

The total credit portfolio held by women has grown from ₹16 lakh crore in 2017 to ₹76 lakh crore in 2025, representing a CAGR of 20% in value terms.

The report, covering the 2017 to 2025 period, groups women borrowers into three segments: microfinance entrants, retail-purpose borrowers and business-purpose borrowers, reflecting different stages of engagement within the credit ecosystem.

Over this period, the composition of lending has evolved meaningfully. Retail purpose loans continue to dominate, accounting for 71% of the total credit portfolio of women borrowers. However, it is business purpose loans that have registered the highest growth, rising 7.5x since 2017 from 16% to 25% of the total portfolio. Microfinance now accounts for 4%, reflecting slower growth relative to retail and commercial segments, signalling rising entrepreneurial participation among women.

Figure 1: Growth and Composition of Women’s Credit Portfolio (2017–2025)

Ms. Anna Roy, Programme Director, Niti Aayog, and Mission Director WEP, said, “The scale and diversification of women’s participation in formal credit signal a meaningful shift in India’s economic landscape. What is particularly encouraging is not just the increase in access, but the way women are moving across credit segments and engaging more actively with formal financial systems. Sustaining this momentum will require continued focus on strengthening the enabling environment, so that increased participation translates into more resilient enterprises and deeper economic contribution over time.”

Strengthening women’s economic participation requires attention not only to credit supply, but to the conditions that enable consistent and independent digital engagement. When digital systems are responsive to lived realities, they can accelerate graduation across credit segments and support enterprise resilience.This report is significant because it captures both the scale and the structure of women’s credit participation, identifying both measurable gains and structural gaps.

Microfinance: The Foundation and the First Step Toward Scale

Microfinance remains a key entry point into formal credit for women, with 7.3 crore active borrowers. However, the segment is stabilizing as lenders adopt tighter guardrails and declining new-to credit originations. Importantly, nearly 19% of active women borrowers now hold retail or commercial loans, reflecting measurable advancement beyond small-ticket credit.

The geographic concentration of borrowers is also evolving. While southern states such as Tamil Nadu historically accounted for a large share of activity, states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are increasing their share of credit-active borrowers.

Figure 2: Geographic Shift in Women Microfinance Borrowers (2025)

Mr. Bhavesh Jain, MD & CEO, TransUnion CIBIL, said, “We are seeing a steady and meaningful evolution in how women are engaging with formal finance in India. Access to credit is no longer limited to participation at the margins. Women are building credit histories, diversifying across retail and business lending, and demonstrating disciplined repayment behaviour. This shift reflects growing financial confidence and a deeper understanding of how structured credit can support personal, household and entrepreneurial aspirations.”

“What is particularly encouraging is the rise in active credit monitoring and responsible credit usage patterns. As more women actively monitor and manage their credit, they strengthen their own financial resilience while contributing to the overall health of the credit ecosystem. The next phase of inclusion will be defined by how women move across products, build scale and deepen their participation in the formal economy.”

Retail Credit: Expanding Participation and Faster Access

Women now account for 27% of overall retail loan originations, up three percentage points since 2022. New-to-credit women borrowers represent 38% of retail originations, with many entering through consumption and gold loan products. Retail lending is increasingly acting as a bridge segment, enabling women to build credit histories and transition toward larger-ticket and asset-based products.

Digitisation has reduced turnaround times in smaller-ticket products. Remarkably, 45% of approvals in consumption categories now occur on the same day highlighting the impact of digitisation in accelerating credit flow.

Women demonstrate responsible credit behaviour, with lower vintage delinquency compared to overall New-To-Credit originations. Younger women are accelerating participation across consumption, gold and vehicle loans, while housing loans continue to remain a significant long-term asset class. Women account for 69% of housing originations when included as co-applicants, up from 63% in 2022.

Borrower profiles vary by product. In consumption loans, 18% of the loan origination comes from women borrowers under 35 years of age. This trend has grown by 3% since 2022. Consumption lending remains more urban-centric with 51% women borrowers taking consumption loans in 2025 originating from metro and urban markets.

Figure 3: Women’s Share in Retail-Purpose Loan Originations

Ms. Sonal Jaitly, Associate Partner and Global Lead, Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion, MicroSave Consulting (MSC), said, “The growth in women’s participation in formal credit reflects a meaningful shift, but it also highlights how varied the digital journeys underpinning this participation can be. Women’s engagement with digital tools spans stages from assisted to independent use, shaping both the depth and continuity of their digital footprint over time. Recognizing these patterns is important for designing credit products and delivery models that strengthen financial visibility and enable women to build on initial access and grow their economic activities.”

Business Lending: Accelerating Participation Across Regions

The most decisive shift in women’s credit participation is visible in business-purpose lending to women which has seen a 7.5x jump since 2017, accounting for 25% of the overall credit portfolio. Over the past three years, women business borrowers have grown at a CAGR of 31%, nearly double the pace of overall commercial credit growth.

Tamil Nadu accounts for 15% of active women business borrowers and Maharashtra for 11%. States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have recorded higher growth rates, at 59% and 42% CAGR respectively over the last three years, indicating rising entrepreneurial participation in northern markets.

Approval timelines have improved meaningfully. Same-week approvals (0–5 days) in commercial lending have increased from 24% in 2022 to 30% in 2025.

Figure 4: Business Loan Originations by Turnaround Time

Mr. Akhand Jyoti Tiwari, Senior Partner - MicroSave Consulting (MSC), said, “India’s economic transformation is increasingly shaped by the ambitions and resilience of its women entrepreneurs. Across rural and urban markets alike, women are building enterprises that sustain households, strengthen local economies, respond to climate change, and contribute to the country’s broader growth story. Ensuring that these entrepreneurs can access and effectively use formal financial systems is therefore central to building a more inclusive and productive economy.”

As India’s financial system becomes increasingly digital and data-driven, the opportunity ahead is not merely to extend credit more widely, but to design systems that enable sustained economic mobility. Doing so will require continued collaboration between policymakers, financial institutions, and ecosystem actors to ensure that financial markets evolve in ways that support the ambitions of millions of women entrepreneurs.”

Digital Behaviour at the Last Mile: From Access to Visibility

Primary research with select rural women nano-entrepreneurs across Kerala and Madhya Pradesh provides a grounded view of their digital participation. The findings underscore that while digital adoption is widespread, the depth, independence, and continuity of engagement vary significantly across users.

Crucially, this journey is neither uniform nor linear. Each stage, from awareness to advanced usage, generates varying levels of digital footprint, which can directly influence financial visibility and credit assessment outcomes. The report reveals where progression stalls, where risk and trust barriers persist, and where behavioural constraints limit deeper engagement.

The Road Ahead: From Access Metrics to Progression Metrics

With 36% credit penetration among women, nearly two-thirds of credit-eligible women remain outside the formal system. Even among credit-active women, many hold only a single credit product, indicating scope for deeper engagement.

“The opportunity ahead remains significant. Expanding access for first-time borrowers, supporting women entrepreneurs with appropriate credit products and strengthening financial visibility through digital participation will be critical in the coming years. When women are equipped with the right financial tools and trusted with opportunity, the gains extend beyond individual borrowers. Households become more secure, enterprises become more scalable and communities become more economically vibrant. Sustained and responsible inclusion of women in formal finance will continue to play an important role in India’s long-term growth story,” said Mr. Jain

The next phase of financial inclusion will shift from measuring access to tracking progression, including advancement rates, multi-product holding, working capital uptake and enterprise growth. Integrating digital transaction trails into flow-based underwriting models and strengthening last-mile digital capability will be central to enabling women to move up the credit value chain.

Sustained and responsible inclusion of women in formal finance will continue to play a critical role in India’s long-term economic growth.