INDIA: Skilling for Women's Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development (WB-P505178)

Regions
  • South Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • India
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Maharashtra State
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Canceled
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Aug 15, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Dept; Govt. of Maharashtra - Empower Foundation
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Education and Health
  • Law and Government
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Grant
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 2.80 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 2.80 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Sep 29, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Apr 14, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the objective of this project is to provide enhanced skilling and entrepreneurship opportunities for women of tribal communities in Maharashtra state.

The project is aligned to World Bank lending project DAKSH (P177965) and will be supporting the women from the selected tribal areas and communities of the state of Maharashtra. The vision is to ensure that women from deprived socio-economic groups and areas have an opportunity and access to become visible stakeholders in country's development process through entrepreneurship and economic enablement.

The project will include:
(i) support of women startups, working towards innovation/improvement of existing products, services, or processes with a potential to create employment and revenue, including young female labor force entrants from Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), Polytechnics, Universities, Colleges, Skilling centers, etc.
(ii) development and delivery of entrepreneurship training programs for females, and
(iii) conducting a targeted awareness campaign to inform about existing opportunities and ensure high level of participation.

The JSDF grant will focus on skills training and entrepreneurship financing for women for enhanced employment opportunities, especially in tribal districts of Amravati, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Gondia and Gadchiroli on the east and Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Thane, Palghar and Raigad on the west of Maharashtra state.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Activities under the proposed project are not expected to have any adverse environmental and social impacts and therefore risks are rated as 'low'. The interventions under the project will be restricted to: (i) needs assessment study to identify areas and communities to be supported; (ii) outreach and awareness; (iii)) addressing specific training needs, knowledge and skills gaps, (vi) identification of entrepreneurial challenges and barriers for women that have to be resolved; (v) skill development and training together with existing business incubators at universities, colleges and ITIs that offer accelerator programs for female-led startups to ensure their growth and market entry and; (vi) funding and support for start-ups by women; and (vii) project management. None of the proposed activities under this operation (using JSDF grant) involve any design or implementation of construction works or activities with a significant physical footprint.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Total Project Cost: US$ 2.80 million
Japan Social Development Fund: US$ 2.80 million


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

CONTACT POINT - World Bank

Task Team Leader: Pradyumna Bhattacharjee
Title: Education Specialist
Email: pbhattacharjee2@worldbank.org

TTL Contact: Denis Nikolaev
Job Title: Senior Education Specialist
Email: dnikolaev@worldbank.org

TTL Contact: Tushar Arora
Job Title: Senior Financial Sector Specialist
Email: tarora@worldbank.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

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How it works