New Delhi, December 16, 2025: The Central government’s ASPIRE scheme is playing a key role in promoting entrepreneurship and creating livelihood opportunities in rural India, with over 1.16 lakh people trained so far across the country.
Implemented by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), ASPIRE, short for A Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industry, and Entrepreneurship—aims to support job creation through skill training, incubation, and help for micro-enterprises.
As of now, 109 Livelihood Business Incubators (LBIs) have been approved nationwide under the scheme. According to government data, 1,16,726 beneficiaries have received training so far. Out of these, 18,444 people have become self-employed, 13,824 have found wage-based jobs, and 1,141 micro-enterprises have been set up.
The ministry has also been tracking social category and gender data since 2022. During this period, 56,721 beneficiaries were trained, including 27,970 women. Among them, 8,365 belonged to the Scheduled Caste category and 9,311 to the Scheduled Tribe category.
Beyond ASPIRE, the MSME Ministry is running several initiatives to support women and SC-ST entrepreneurs. These include awareness programmes conducted with state governments, banks, and industry bodies to improve outreach and access to credit.
The ministry also operates the National SC-ST Hub to strengthen the capacity of entrepreneurs from these communities. Vendor Development Programmes are regularly organised for SC-ST and women entrepreneurs under various government schemes, with public sector companies also taking part.
In June 2024, the government launched the Yashasvini Campaign to empower women entrepreneurs by improving access to credit, formalisation, mentorship, and capacity building.
Further support was announced in the Union Budget 2025, with a new scheme offering term loans of up to ₹2 crore for first-time entrepreneurs from women, Scheduled Caste, and Scheduled Tribe categories.
The Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) continues to be another major initiative, supporting the creation of micro-enterprises in non-farm sectors. Around 39% of PMEGP beneficiaries are women, who also receive a higher subsidy of up to 35%, compared to 25% for the general category.
ASPIRE Scheme Trains 1.16 Lakh, Boosts Rural Jobs
The MSME Champions scheme is also being implemented to help businesses modernise, improve efficiency, and expand their market reach. It focuses on quality certification, lean manufacturing, and innovation support.
To boost exports, the ministry has set up 65 Export Facilitation Centres across India. These centres provide training, mentoring, and handholding support to MSMEs on export procedures, documentation, and government incentives.
This information was shared by Minister of State for MSME, Shobha Karandlaje, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
