Despite the widespread rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in 2016, which provided free LPG connections to low-income women in India, a significant number of households continued to rely on biomass fuels for cooking. This persistent dependence led to severe indoor air pollution, health hazards, and reduced productivity due to time spent on fuel collection. One of the key challenges was the low rate of LPG cylinder refills. Nearly 30% of beneficiaries did not refill their cylinders regularly.
To address these gaps, MSC implemented a community-based solution by developing and scaling a network of women agents known as Ujjwala Sakhis. These women, drawn from rural communities, were trained to act as last-mile delivery and awareness agents for LPG usage. MSC provided technical and operational support to strengthen the LPG distribution system, increase awareness of the benefits of clean cooking fuel, and enable better access to credit for LPG refills through targeted microloans.
The initiative led to significant improvements in LPG adoption and women’s economic empowerment. Over 1,000 Ujjwala Sakhis earned supplementary income by facilitating access to LPG in their communities. The initiative resulted in over 450,000 LPG refills and the disbursement of more than 12,500 targeted Ujjwala loans. These outcomes reduced the burden of collecting traditional fuel and improved health outcomes and environmental benefits, including the reduction of 20 kilotons of CO₂ emissions. The project demonstrated the power of grassroots women-led models in driving behavior change and improving access to clean energy solutions.
The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.
Women entrepreneurs in India face systemic barriers in accessing credit and support from formal financial institutions. These challenges limit their ability to grow businesses and earn stable incomes. Despite their potential, many lack access to large enterprise loans and have limited awareness of available credit options. Complex loan processes and documentation further discourage them from approaching banks. As a result, many continue to depend on informal, high-cost sources of finance with little protection.
To address these challenges, MSC designed and scaled an enterprise loan product for SHG women entrepreneurs in Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. The initiative aimed to empower low-income women entrepreneurs by linking them with formal financial systems and building their capacity to run sustainable businesses.
We designed credit products tailored to the needs of SHG-led microenterprises and worked to streamline financial processes within participating institutions. It forged strategic partnerships with financial service providers and government stakeholders to enable the flow of need-based, affordable credit. MSC also supported the formalization of women-led enterprises and implemented targeted capacity-building initiatives to enhance their financial and business management skills.
By May 2025, the initiative enabled over 75,000 SHG-led microenterprises to access formal credit and resulted in loan disbursements exceeding USD 66 million. It significantly improved women’s access to enterprise finance, strengthened their ability to manage and grow their businesses, and contributed to advancing financial inclusion across underserved rural communities.
The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.
Rural populations in Uttar Pradesh often struggle to access formal banking services due to limited infrastructure, low financial literacy, and geographic isolation. To address these barriers, the Government of Uttar Pradesh launched the Business Correspondent (BC) Sakhi initiative. The program identifies women from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and trains them to serve as bank agents, delivering doorstep banking services to remote and underserved rural areas. MSC played a pivotal role in supporting the scale-up of the BC Sakhi initiative.
MSC provided technical assistance to the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (UPSRLM) to digitally onboard and manage BC Sakhis through a mobile application and web-based platform, enabling streamlined deployment and real-time monitoring. We also developed customized training modules to enhance the capacity of BC Sakhis in delivering secure and effective financial services. In addition, MSC offered ongoing support to strengthen operational processes and promote the long-term sustainability of the BC Sakhi model.
By May 2025, this initiative helped identify, train and successfully onboard 40,000 women as BC Sakhis across Uttar Pradesh. These agents now actively deliver banking services in remote areas and significantly expand financial access. To date, the BC Sakhis have reached over 68 million adults, processed transactions worth more than USD 4 billion, and earned a collective USD 11 million in commissions—advancing both financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment in the state.
The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.
Women entrepreneurs managing nano, micro, and small enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa face persistent challenges in accessing affordable and productive credit. These challenges were further worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, Asia and Latin America have seen greater success in scaling microfinance solutions, due to more enabling environments and better aggregation opportunities. To address this disparity, MSC conducted a comparative landscape assessment across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
MSC developed a learn-test-scale strategy to improve access to productive credit for women entrepreneurs in Kenya and Uganda. We assessed 130+ financial institutions, evaluated their intent, capabilities, and partnerships, and shortlisted five institutions—Stanbic Kenya, Stanbic Uganda, KCB, BRAC Uganda, and FINCA—to co-develop and implement proof-of-concept pilots tailored to women entrepreneurs’ needs.
MSC supported these institutions with product development plans, alternate credit scoring models, pricing strategies, and iterative prototype testing. We are also helping structure a second-tier financing facility to channel low-cost, long-term capital into the sector. Our ongoing technical assistance covers KPI definition, product refinement, and pilot implementation across all approved institutions. Through this work, MSC is helping unlock affordable, scalable credit for thousands of underserved women entrepreneurs in East Africa. The project builds an evidence-based roadmap for inclusive financial ecosystems and supports institutions in delivering impactful, gender-intentional credit solutions.
The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.
Rural entrepreneurs, especially women in Self-Help Groups (SHGs), face significant challenges in accessing credit due to the absence of a formal credit history. To bridge this gap, MSC initiated the Grameen Credit Bureau project in Bihar. The initiative intended to develop a comprehensive credit database covering over 10 million SHG members, streamlining access to formal financial services for rural women.
MSC led the design and implementation of an integrated digital data repository that captures both financial and non-financial data of SHG members. We collaborated with JEEViKA, public sector banks, and credit bureaus like CRIF High Mark to define data points, ensure data quality, and generate reliable credit reports. Our efforts focused on eliminating risks and biases from data misinterpretation and facilitating a data-driven approach to credit assessment.
Once implemented, the Grameen Credit Bureau Score is expected to significantly improve the assessment of creditworthiness among rural SHG women, facilitating their access to a broader range of financial products beyond the traditional SHG structure. It will promote greater transparency in SHG transactions and repayment histories and pave the way for their integration into the formal financial ecosystem.
The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Uttarakhand struggle to access and utilize Cash Credit Loans (CCL), with more than 60% of allocated funds remaining unused due to a lack of awareness and unclear documentation. Also, issues such as poor with bank officials and SHGs, high stamp duty charges, and limited understanding of the NRLM MIS portal hinder loan disbursement to SHGs and the uptake of benefits. To resolve this, MSC provided technical assistance to Uttarakhand State Rural Livelihood Mission (USRLM) in strengthening SHG-bank linkages.
MSC conducted awareness and capacity building camps with SHGs to address knowledge gaps, facilitated coordination with SRLM teams, and worked with banks to simplify processes and resolve documentation-related challenges. Through the collaborative efforts of MSC and USRLM, the SHG Bank Linkage program has achieved notable progress across key focus areas—namely, Cash Credit Limit (CCL) uptake, interest subvention implementation, and NPA management.
Between March 2023 and April 2025, the proportion of SHGs linked to banks increased from 55% to 68%, while loan utilization more than doubled, rising from USD 19 million to USD 39 million. The initiative to improve access to subsidized interest rates has been effective, with the percentage of SHGs charged higher interest rates dropping significantly from 52% in March 2023 to 11% in April 2025. Moreover, the Non-Performing Assets (NPA) rate declined from 4% to below 2%, indicating strengthened financial discipline and improved credit portfolio quality.
The Gates Foundation commissioned the project.
