Women Entrepreneurship Initiative in KERALA: An Economic Evaluation

Kudumbashree Micro-Enterprises are small-scale income-generating units promoted under the Kudumbashree Mission of Kerala to alleviate poverty and empower women through entrepreneurship. They are owned, managed and operated by women members, either individually or in groups, and function in manufacturing, service and trade sectors. They aim to enhance self-employment, sustainable livelihoods and local economic development through capacity building, financial support, and institutional backing. The present study aims at examining the economic performance of Kudumbashree micro-enterprises in terms of total revenue, total cost, total profit of manufacturing and non-manufacturing units. The study finds that there is no significant difference between the performance of manufacturing and nonmanufacturing units.