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Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development" (TREAD)

• In order to alleviate their problems, the Ministry of Small Scale Industries (SSI) in the
Government of India has launched a scheme titled "Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance
and Development" (TREAD) for economic empowerment of women through the development
of their entrepreneurial skills in non-farm activities.
• The Office of the Development Commissioner (SSI) in the Ministry of SSI is responsible for the
implementation of this scheme.
• For non farm activities only.
• Loans are given to NGOs who can then finance a group of women.
• okay here’s how it works. Loan is given to women who are attached to an NGO. That loan is

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being subsidised by grants from the ministry.

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Credit to Projects - Government Grant up to 30% of the total project cost as appraised by lending

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institutions which would finance the remaining 70% as loan Assistance to applicant women, who have

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no easy access to credit from banks due to their cumbersome procedures and the inability of poor &

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usually illiterate/semi-literate women to provide adequate security demanded by banks in the form of
collaterals. GOI Grant and the loan portion from the lending agencies to assist such women shall be

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routed through eligible NGOs engaged in assisting poor women through any kind of income

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generating activities in non farm sector. For example if an NGO submits project(s) for a number of
individual or group(s) women say for Rs. 50,000 each for a group of 50 women, then the loan amount

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required by 50 women would be Rs. 25 lakhs. To it would be added the expenditure that the NGO will
make in training / counseling of staff, part expenses on operationalising a management and monitoring
system, vehicles, charges for legal documentation, training of loaners, auditors fees charged. Say duly
approved by lending institutes, it works out to be Rs. 15 lakhs. Then the total project cost would be Rs.
25 + 15 = 40 lakhs. The GOI grant would be maximum up to Rs. 12 lakhs (30% of Rs. 40 lakhs).

The three main components of this scheme are as under:

1. Grants to NGO: Assistance in the form of the Government of India (GoI) grant of up to 30 per
cent of the total project cost, as appraised by the lending agency is provided to the Non
Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for promoting entrepreneurship among target groups of
women.
o The remaining 70 per cent of the project cost is financed by the lending agency as loan
for undertaking activities as envisaged in the project.
o The NGOs can utilise the grant for training, counselling, tie ups for marketing on behalf
of the beneficiaries, etc. besides their own capacity building for assisting women.
2. NGO and training institutes to conduct programs: Selected training institutions and NGOs
conducting training programmes for empowerment of women beneficiaries identified under this
scheme can also avail of GoI grant of up to Rs.1.00 lakh per programme, for imparting training to
the women entrepreneurs, provided such institutions also bring their share of at least 25 per
cent of the grant. However, NGOs except from the North East Region (NER), would be allowed
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to conduct training programmes only after they take up some lending proposals under this
scheme.

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W 3. Grants to various institutes: Need-based GoI grant upto Rs.5 lakh per project is provided to
National Entrepreneurship Development Institutions (EDIs) viz. National Institute of Small
Industry Extension Training (NISIET), National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Development (NIESBUD), Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), EDIs sponsored by the State
Government, Small Industries Service Institutes (SISIs), and any other institution of repute
primarily for undertaking field surveys, research studies, evaluation studies, designing of training
modules, etc.

The lending institutions/ banks would finance loan assistance for a group of women through NGOs for
undertaking non- farm activities.
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Number of NGOs/ Institutes Number of women Total grant released (Rs.

Year
benefitted benefitted in crore)

2014-
24 8265 2.54
15

2015-
12 3560 2.00
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Number of NGO Number of women Total grant released in

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Year benefitted from North benefitted from North North East States (Rs. in

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East States East States crore)

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2014-
3 750 0.225

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15

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2015-

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0 0 0

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16

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In order to implement this scheme, the Ministry of SSI, through the office of Development

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Commissioner (SSI) has signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with the Canara Bank, the
Syndicate Bank, and the State Bank of India for mutual co-operation and to promote empowerment of
women through setting up of micro enterprises under this scheme. It is the endeavour of this office to
further expand the coverage of this scheme across the country by involving more banks as nodal
agencies for implementing the TREAD scheme. As a part of this objective, this office has also requested
some more public sector banks for becoming the nodal agencies for implementing the TREAD scheme.