Marking 10 transformative years of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8, welcomed a group of beneficiaries to his official residence, spotlighting the grassroots impact of the scheme that has redefined entrepreneurship and financial inclusion in India.
During a heartfelt and candid interaction, PM Modi listened to stories of triumph, risk, and resilience — tales that reflect a silent revolution in self-employment sparked by MUDRA loans. The Prime Minister reiterated that the scheme is not about garnering praise for his government, but about restoring dignity, financial autonomy, and hope among the aspiring youth and women of Bharat.
“This scheme is not for Modi’s praises. It is to give courage to the youth of my country to stand on their own feet,” he stated.
Mudra Yojana has given opportunities to countless people to showcase their entrepreneurial skills. Interacted with some of the beneficiaries of the scheme. Their journey is inspiring. #10YearsOfMUDRA https://t.co/QcoIK1VTki
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 8, 2025
Lavkush Mehra from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, shared his meteoric rise from being a servant to becoming a successful entrepreneur. After availing a Rs 5 lakh MUDRA loan in 2021, his turnover soared from Rs 12 lakhs in the first year to over Rs 50 lakh, employing several individuals in the process.
His story elicited a proud response from the Prime Minister: “This massive task of providing employment generates the economy. This is real empowerment.”
When one hesitant beneficiary from Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli hesitated to reveal his income, PM Modi light-heartedly assured him, “Daro mat, Income Tax wale nahi aayenge,” drawing laughter and a sense of reassurance from the audience. The man, who now runs a bakery with 7 to 8 employees and a turnover of Rs 2.5–3 lakhs per month, spoke with confidence, vowing to contribute to India’s development journey.
From Gujarat’s Bhavnagar, a 21-year-old final-year mechatronics student narrated how a Rs 2 lakh Mudra loan helped him establish ‘Aditya Tech Lab’ — offering 3D printing, robotics, and prototyping services. Despite being a full-time student, he now earns Rs 30,000–35,000 per month by running the tech lab on weekends.
PM Modi also highlighted how schemes like Mudra and UPI are enabling a business revolution even in formerly strife-hit regions like Jammu and Kashmir. “Youth are no longer waiting for jobs… they are creating them,” he said.
Multiple women entrepreneurs shared emotional testimonies of how the Mudra Yojana broke cycles of financial dependency and opened doors to economic freedom. Some spoke of sitting on an airplane for the first time, not just as passengers, but as proud business owners.
“This is what real women empowerment looks like,” the Prime Minister said, adding that women are not only the largest segment of applicants under Mudra but also the fastest and most disciplined loan repayers. An entrepreneur from Kerala who returned from the UAE credited the Mudra scheme for his successful reintegration into the Indian economy. When asked whether his mother was upset about his decision to return, he smiled and said,
“Everything went well in the end.” So far, ₹33 lakh crore has been disbursed under the Mudra Yojana — without a single rupee of guarantee, underscoring the government’s trust in the potential of the common Indian.
“People read in newspapers that this is a government of the rich. Even if you add up the total loans of all the rich, it won’t amount to Rs 33 lakh crore,” PM Modi remarked. Calling the scheme an “eye-opener for any government,” the Prime Minister emphasised the need to continue fostering entrepreneurship and self-reliance, especially among the youth and women — the true architects of a Viksit Bharat.
On April 8, 2025, Bharat marks a watershed moment in its economic transformation with the 10th anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY)—a flagship initiative that has democratised access to institutional credit for micro and small businesses and ignited a grassroots entrepreneurial movement. With over 52 crore loans worth Rs 32.61 lakh crore sanctioned, Mudra has shattered historical barriers to formal finance, bringing the “funding the unfunded” mantra to life.
Introduced on April 8, 2015, the scheme was envisioned to empower micro-entrepreneurs by offering collateral-free loans through scheduled banks, NBFCs, MFIs, and regional rural banks. A decade later, PMMY stands tall as one of the world’s largest financial inclusion efforts, fostering economic self-reliance, especially among women, marginalised communities, and rural youth.
According to the SKOCH report “Outcomes of ModiNomics 2014-24”, PMMY alone has contributed to 2.52 crore sustainable employment opportunities annually since its inception, while the broader economic framework under ModiNomics has generated 5.14 crore person-years of employment every year since 2014.
PMMY, rolled out under the aegis of the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA), was born out of a recognition that non-corporate, non-farm micro enterprises—which employ nearly 10 crore people, second only to agriculture—were locked out of institutional credit. These were businesses too small for bank boards, too remote for credit officers, and too informal for legacy systems. With the launch of PMMY, these very enterprises found themselves at the centre of Bharat ’s financial empowerment narrative.
The scheme offers collateral-free loans up to Rs 20 lakh through Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks, NBFCs, and Micro Finance Institutions. The loans are categorised as:
- Shishu (up to Rs 50,000)
- Kishor (Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh)
- Tarun (Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh)
- Tarun Plus (Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh)
The numbers alone are staggering, but they don’t tell the full story. Consider Kamlesh, a tailor from Delhi, who expanded her home-based setup and employed three other women. Or Bindu, who started by making 50 brooms a day and now runs a unit producing 500. These are no longer outliers; they reflect a systemic shift.
According to the latest SBI report, loans in the Kishor category have surged dramatically—from 5.9 per cent in FY16 to 44.7 per cent in FY25—indicating a move from survival-mode micro enterprises to scalable small businesses. The Tarun category, too, is gaining traction, showing that PMMY is not just a scheme for starting up—it is a springboard for scaling up.
In financial terms, the average ticket size of Mudra loans has jumped nearly three-fold from Rs38,000 in FY16 to Rs1.02 lakh in FY25, signifying growing borrower confidence and a maturing micro-business ecosystem.
One of PMMY’s most transformative impacts has been on women entrepreneurs, who account for nearly 70 per cent of the total Mudra loans disbursed. Over the past nine years, the average per woman loan disbursement grew at a CAGR of 13 per cent, reaching Rs 62,679, while per woman incremental deposits rose by 14 per cent CAGR, touching Rs 95,269.
This is not merely financial data—it is a statement of empowerment. Across states like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Odisha, women-led MSMEs are creating jobs, stabilising households, and inspiring communities. The correlation is clear: states with higher women Mudra beneficiaries also record higher employment growth through women-led MSMEs.
The IMF, in multiple reports since 2017, has consistently praised PMMY for enhancing women’s access to finance and boosting the formalisation of women-owned MSMEs, which now number over 2.8 million.
PMMY was designed not just as a credit scheme, but as a social equaliser. According to the SBI report, 50 per cent of all Mudra accounts are held by SC, ST, and OBC entrepreneurs, while 11 per cent are owned by members of minority communities. This outreach reflects the scheme’s structural commitment to inclusive growth, bridging caste and community divides through entrepreneurship.
Take J&K—a region long viewed through the lens of conflict. Under PMMY, over 21.33 lakh loans amounting to Rs 45,815.92 crore have been sanctioned, turning the region into a symbol of economic self-reliance. Bharat ’s MSME credit ecosystem has witnessed an explosive transformation. Lending to MSMEs has grown from Rs 8.51 lakh crore in FY14 to Rs 27.25 lakh crore in FY24, and is projected to breach Rs 30 lakh crore in FY25. MSME credit now comprises nearly 20 per cent of total bank credit, up from 15.8 per cent a decade ago.
Behind this surge is the Mudra engine. The SBI notes that PMMY’s impact on credit culture has been catalytic—by formalising credit-seeking behaviour, building repayment histories, and enabling a credit ladder from Shishu to Tarun Plus.
As per data till February 28, 2025, Tamil Nadu has emerged as the top performer with Mudra loan disbursals totalling Rs 3.23 lakh crore. Close behind are Uttar Pradesh (Rs 3.14 lakh crore) and Karnataka (Rs 3.02 lakh crore). West Bengal, Bihar, and Maharashtra have also demonstrated strong participation, underlining that this is a pan-Bharat movement with no urban-rural or regional divide.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN bodies have repeatedly highlighted the transformative nature of PMMY. In its 2024 assessment, the IMF stated that PMMY, along with other entrepreneurship schemes, is actively driving self-employment and formalisation in Bharat . It praised the scheme’s collateral-free structure, its focus on women, and its integration with digital and financial infrastructure like Jan Dhan and Aadhaar.
