India has witnessed a transformative surge in women’s workforce participation, with the female employment rate nearly doubling from 22% in 2017-18 to 40.3% in 2023-24, according to a statement from the Labour Ministry on Monday. This remarkable growth, coupled with a decline in the female unemployment rate from 5.6% to 3.2% over the same period, underscores the increasing role of women in driving India’s economic progress toward the Viksit Bharat vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data highlights a 96% increase in rural female employment and a 43% rise in urban areas, reflecting significant strides in gender-inclusive economic policies. The ministry noted that the employability of female graduates has risen from 42% in 2013 to 47.53% in 2024, with those holding postgraduate degrees or higher seeing their employment rate climb from 34.5% to 40% over the same period. The India Skills Report 2025 projects that 55% of Indian graduates will be globally employable in 2025, up from 51.2% in 2024.
Government initiatives have been pivotal in this transformation. Over the past seven years, 1.56 crore women have joined the formal workforce, as per EPFO payroll data, while 16.69 crore women in the unorganized sector have registered with the e-Shram portal, gaining access to social welfare schemes. Female self-employment has surged by 30%, from 51.9% in 2017-18 to 67.4% in 2023-24, driven by programs like PM Mudra Yojana, which has disbursed 68% of its 35.38 crore loans (worth ₹14.72 lakh crore) to women, and PM SVANidhi, with 44% of its beneficiaries being women.
Also Read: India empowers women officers in UN missions!
The rise of women-led Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has further bolstered economic growth, generating over 89 lakh jobs for women between FY21 and FY23. The share of women-owned proprietary establishments has grown from 17.4% in 2010-11 to 26.2% in 2023-24, with women-led MSMEs nearly doubling to 1.92 crore. Additionally, nearly 50% of the 1.54 lakh startups registered with DPIIT have at least one woman director, totaling 74,410.
The ministry highlighted a 429% increase in gender budgets over the past decade, from ₹0.85 lakh crore in FY 2013-14 to ₹4.49 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, reflecting a shift toward women-led development. Programs like Startup India, Namo Drone Didi, and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – NRLM have empowered around two crore women to become Lakhpati Didis, equipping them with resources for sustainable progress. With 70 central and over 400 state-level schemes supporting female entrepreneurship, women are emerging as the backbone of India’s economic future, driving the nation toward greater inclusivity and prosperity.
Also Read: Monsoon Session: Amit Shah Announces Quotas in Multi-State Cooperatives