The Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) and the Karnataka State Women Development Corporation (KSWDC) have set in motion a budgetary proposal to extend loan support to women entrepreneurs in the state.

• The KITS, invited applications from women entrepreneurs for loans ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, to be provided by KSWDC under the Vriddhi scheme.
• The beneficiaries will be restricted to winners and runners-up of two state-run startup challenges – Elevate (2016 to 2021) and Amrita Startups (2021).
• A proposal in this connection was made in the state budget for 2022-23. The loans will be provided at a 4 percent interest rate, to be repaid in 60 installments.
• This is the stage where entrepreneurs who have already passed the PoC (proof of concept) phase are preparing to scale up. Challenges like Elevate have attracted more than 1,000 applicants; the winners and runners-up by themselves constitute a very impressive spread.
• The State Department for Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T launched Elevate – Idea2PoC scheme to help incubate innovative startups and provide them funds and mentorship.
• The department also runs Elevate Women, a programme under which incubation and acceleration programmes are designed to support women entrepreneurs with grant-in-aid funds.
• The eligibility criteria for the KSWDC loans stipulate that at least one director or partner in the applicant company should be a woman with substantial shares in the company.
• The applications will be screened initially for eligibility as per norms prescribed in the Karnataka Startup Policy 2015-20. The KSWDC will select the beneficiaries from a list of eligible woman entrepreneurs submitted by a KITS expert panel

Karnataka State Women Development Corporation(KSWDC)

KSWDC focusses on socio economic upliftment of women. The following are some of its

initiatives:

• It runs the Udyogini scheme under which over 1479 beneficiaries became self-employed by taking income generating activities.
• Various vocational training programs are also being run.
• Devadasi Rehabilitation program and Devadasi Pension and Housing schemes provide support and empower Devadasi women financially and enable them to lead a normal and respected life.
• Financial assistance is provided to transgender to start self-employment initiatives.
• The Chetana scheme enables sex workers to lead honorable life in the society.

• Interest subsidy is provided to women who want to setup medium and large scale industries