Stree Shakti Package for Women Entrepreneurs

Stree Shakti Package is one of the longest-running concessional credit schemes for women entrepreneurs in India, offered by State Bank of India since the 1980s. The package combines a small but meaningful interest concession of 0.50 percentage points with a reduction in margin money and a waiver of processing charges for smaller ticket sizes. It is open to women who own at least 51 per cent of an enterprise, whether the unit is a sole proprietorship, a partnership firm, an LLP or a private company.

Sectors covered are deliberately broad: retail and wholesale trade, services such as catering and beauty parlours, professional practices including medical and legal, agro-processing, manufacturing units, and self-employed activities such as desktop publishing or tailoring. The widest gap we see at the branch level is in awareness; first-time applicants often accept the standard MSME loan terms without realising they qualify for the Stree Shakti concession.

For loans above ₹2 lakh, the rate of interest is reduced by 50 basis points compared to the bank's standard MSME card rate. This concession must appear as a line item in the sanction letter; if it does not, it will not flow through to the EMI schedule. We have seen branches verbally promise the concession and then issue a sanction at the standard rate. Insist on a written note from the branch manager invoking the Stree Shakti Package category before signing the loan agreement.

The margin requirement, which is the portion of the project cost the borrower must contribute from own funds, is reduced to 15 per cent from the usual 20 per cent for loans above ₹5 lakh. Processing charges are waived for loans up to ₹5 lakh and reduced by 50 per cent for loans between ₹5 lakh and ₹25 lakh. For collateral-free borrowing, the package can be combined with the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), so that loans up to ₹2 crore can be sanctioned without third-party collateral.

Apply at any SBI branch with the documents listed above. Most district lead branches and SME-focused branches process Stree Shakti applications routinely; some smaller branches will redirect you. Insist on filing at your preferred branch; redirection is not a valid reason to delay sanction. Once filed, the bank is required to convey a decision within fifteen working days for loans up to ₹5 lakh and within thirty days for larger amounts.

If the branch insists on collateral for a loan below ₹2 crore, push back by citing the CGTMSE guarantee, which is government-funded specifically to remove the collateral barrier. If the branch declines without giving a written reason, you can escalate to the SBI Regional Manager, then to the Banking Ombudsman. Document every interaction in writing; verbal rejections are the single biggest cause of women entrepreneurs giving up on bank finance and turning to costlier informal lenders.

• 01Enterprise with at least 51% ownership by a woman or group of women
• 02Existing or proposed unit in retail trade, services, manufacturing, or professional practice
• 03Promoter must have completed any state-approved Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP), unless waived for graduates of accredited management institutes
• 04Satisfactory credit bureau record (CIBIL) for the woman promoter

• §Aadhaar and PAN of the woman promoter
• §Proof of business ownership: partnership deed, MOA & AOA, or proprietorship registration
• §Udyam registration certificate
• §Last 3 years' financial statements (for existing units) or project report (for new units)
• §Property documents if offering collateral above the CGTMSE-covered amount

• Woman is named as a partner but actual shareholding is below 51%
• EDP certificate missing and waiver criteria not met
• Project report does not show debt-service-coverage ratio above 1.5
• Existing loans irregular in the past 12 months on the credit bureau report

• SBI Stree Shakti Package Product Sheet, State Bank of Indialink ↗
• CGTMSE Operational Guidelines (2024), Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterpriseslink ↗
• RBI Master Direction on Priority Sector Lending (Women), Reserve Bank of India