Budget 2025: What are the benefits of Grameen credit score for self-help groups? | Mint

Union Budget 2025: Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman recently announced Grameen credit score scheme. This is a framework evolved to help Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the citizens in rural India. The primary responsibility of developing this scheme is going to be enshrined in the Indian public sector banking system. The details of the same are elaborated below:

What is the meaning of Grameen credit score?

Grameen credit score is a newly launched initiative. This has been introduced by the Finance Minister in the 2025 budget by the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman.

The objective behind this scheme is to promote financial inclusion for self help group (SHGs) women entrepreneurs. It is basically to provide them the much needed support to grow in life by trying to build businesses. 

This score, hence, represents a significant shift in analyzing the creditworthiness of millions of women involved in the SHGs across India’s rural areas. It aims at aligning rural women entrepreneurs with the central financial system of India.

Why has this been introduced in the budget?

The goal of this initiative is to address the challenges faced by women in applying for and getting credit. As of today not many SHGs are directly linked with the formal credit systems. This has hence made financial inclusion difficult.

The Grameen credit score therefore aims to formalize SHG transactions within the central credit system of India. Thereby allowing leading financial institutions to better assess creditworthiness.

This hence is a powerful move which is going to have a lasting impact on the formalization of the rural economies. It will bring the rural women in the central financial system and provide them a platform to express themselves.

What are some positive changes this scheme brings?

The introduction of the Grameen credit score is expected to bring several positive changes:

• Enhanced financial access: It will open up new financial opportunities for rural women. Thus, enabling them to expand their businesses and improve their livelihoods. It will also introduce them with concepts like credit cards, creditworthiness, loan EMIs, loan repayment etc.
• Customized financial products: The initiative will be supplemented by customized credit cards for micro-enterprises, with limits of up to ₹5 lakh. This will propel grassroot level financial empowerment.
• Improved credit assessment: By providing a digital framework for assessing creditworthiness, it will bridge existing gaps in the current credit bureau system, which often overlooks SHG members. It will also allow them to check their credit score, credit limits and ways to improve the same.
• Economic stability: Now with increase in credit availability women led SHGs will be in a position to better contribute more effectively to their houses. This will propel the growth in the rural community at large.

Therefore, the Grameen credit score aligns with the government’s broader goals of sustainable development.

Further it will boost the loan taking capacity of rural women and provide them a platform to continuously monitor their credit scores, loan taking capacity, loan repayment ability.

Further, this will also help in tackling persistent issues like poverty alleviation, potentially transforming the lives of millions of women across India.