Govt’s ASPIRE scheme trains over 1.16 lakh beneficiaries, approves 109 incubators

The government is implementing the ASPIRE (A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industry, and Entrepreneurship) scheme to promote entrepreneurship and livelihood opportunities in rural areas.

Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), said this in a written reply at the Rajya Sabha.

The scheme aims to create an ecosystem for job creation through skill development, incubation, and support to micro-enterprises. So far, 109 Livelihood Business Incubators have been approved across the country under ASPIRE. According to the ministry, a total of 1,16,726 beneficiaries have been trained under the scheme so far. Of these, 18,444 have become self-employed, 13,824 have secured wage employment, and 1,141 micro-enterprises have been established.

The ministry began collecting category-wise and gender-wise data from 2022 onwards. Since then, out of 56,721 beneficiaries trained, around 27,970 are women; 8,365 belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC) category; and 9,311 belong to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

In addition to ASPIRE, the government has rolled out other initiatives to promote entrepreneurship among women and SC-ST (scheduled castes, scheduled tribes) communities.

To improve outreach, programmes are conducted by the field offices of the Ministry of MSME in coordination with state and union territory MSME and industry departments, along with stakeholders such as CGTMSE (Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises), SIDBI, banks, and MSME associations.

The ministry has also implemented the National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub Scheme, which focuses on capacity enhancement of SC-ST entrepreneurs. Vendor Development Programmes for SC-ST and women entrepreneurs are organised under the Public Procurement Policy for MSMEs. Central public sector undertakings are also conducting similar programmes.

In June 2024, the Ministry launched the Yashasvini Campaign to empower women entrepreneurs across India by promoting awareness of schemes related to formalisation, access to credit, capacity building, and mentorship.

Further, the Union Budget 2025 announced a new scheme to provide term loans of up to Rs 2 crore to women, scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes first-time entrepreneurs for the promotion and development of MSMEs.

The ministry has also implemented the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a credit-linked subsidy scheme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through the establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector. Under PMEGP, 39% of beneficiaries are women, who are provided a higher subsidy of 35%, compared to up to 25% for the general category.

Additionally, the ministry is implementing the MSME Champions Scheme, which seeks to unify and converge various MSME schemes to modernise enterprises, reduce wastage, improve competitiveness, and facilitate national and global market access. The scheme has three components: MSME-Sustainable (ZED) Certification, MSME-Competitive (Lean), and MSME-Innovative (Incubation, Design and IPR).

To support MSME exports, the ministry has established 65 Export Facilitation Centres across the country. These centres provide mentoring and handholding support to MSMEs through assistance on export-related schemes, compliance training, documentation, and engagement with industry bodies, state governments, and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.