More women should become entrepreneurs: AP minister

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister Kondapalli Srinivas has called for more women entrepreneurship to ensure inclusive economy grows at the required pace.

Speaking as the chief guest at the MSME Growth Workshop jointly organized by the NTR District Industries Center (DIC) and the India SME Forum on Wednesday, Mr. Srinivas said the main objective of the conference was to encourage members of the Youth, Women and Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) to become entrepreneurs, in line with the slogan of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Oneneur’Neutreidu’Neur’neur’

The minister said SMEs contribute about 30% to the country’s GDP and create more than 50% of jobs. An MSME park has been set up in each constituency to promote entrepreneurship.

Nineteen such parks have already been launched, while work on another 138 parks is underway, he said.

The government has allocated an amount of ₹ 300 crore under the Chief Minister’s Entrepreneurship Scheme for setting up new industries.

Mr. Srinivas said that the government is providing various incentives to support DWCRA women and has reduced rural bank interest rates from 13% to 12%.

Vijayawada East MLA Gadde Rammohan urged budding entrepreneurs to make the most of the capital subsidy provided by the government.

AP MSME Corporation CEO Viswa Manoharan and Managing Director A. Sudhakar and representatives from Meta, Amazon Global Selling, Walmart Vriddhi, CII – NITI Aayog and various banks were present.

Published – 02 Sep 2026 23:20 IST