Mahalir Udavi (PIPDIC) — Loan Up to ₹15 Lakh for Women Entrepreneurs — Frequently Asked Questions

The maximum is ₹15,00,000, which works out to 75% of your project cost. The scheme only applies while the total project cost stays at or below ₹20,00,000. If your project costs less than that, the loan is capped at three-fourths of the smaller figure.

Any micro enterprise, tiny unit or small scale industry unit — newly set up or already operating — that is run entirely by women, or where women make up the majority of the promoters. The unit also has to meet the ₹20,00,000 project cost ceiling, the 25% promoter contribution and the 3:1 debt-equity ratio.

No. Mahalir Udavi operates on a rolling basis and applications are accepted right through the year, so you can apply whenever your project is ready instead of waiting for an announced window.

No. This is a debt scheme — you take a term loan and repay it on the agreed schedule. No ownership share or equity is handed over to PIPDIC.

Interest is set at 0.5% below PIPDIC's normal lending rate. The investigation fee is halved through a 50% concession, and the immovable property required as collateral is valued at 50% of the loan amount. A one-time application fee also applies: ₹100 for loans up to ₹25 lakh and ₹200 for loans above ₹25 lakh.

The promoter's contribution has to be at least 25% of the total project cost. The debt-equity ratio is fixed at 3:1, so the split between borrowed funds and your own funds is set by the scheme itself.

The term loan can run for a maximum of 10 years (120 months). Within that, a moratorium of up to two years is allowed, decided according to how long the project takes to implement — useful while the unit is still finding its feet.

Two purposes: acquiring fixed assets such as machinery, land or building, and meeting the working capital needs of a new or existing micro or SSI unit. It is a loan for a business, not a general-purpose grant.

The application is made online through the PIPDIC website. You register as a new customer with a username, email ID, password and captcha, verify your email with an OTP, then complete your profile. From the dashboard you open the Applications tab, review and accept the general terms and conditions, and fill the multi-step loan form. You then agree to the declaration, submit the bio-data of the promoter, partner or director, and upload KYC and supporting documents against each field. Finally you pay the application fee and print or save the receipt as a PDF.

Log in to the customer dashboard, click 'View My application' and select the relevant loan application. A freshly submitted application shows as 'UNDER REVIEW' until the appraisal process moves it forward.

No. DPIIT (Startup India) recognition is not listed as a mandatory requirement for Mahalir Udavi (PIPDIC) — Loan Up to ₹15 Lakh for Women Entrepreneurs, though having it can strengthen your application and unlock other benefits.

Mahalir Udavi (PIPDIC) — Loan Up to ₹15 Lakh for Women Entrepreneurs is offered by Pondicherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment Corporation (PIPDIC), a government body. It is provided as non-dilutive funding.