Rural Women in Business: Opportunities and Reflections from the Field

India is home to about 1.31 billion people and women comprise of almost half of the human capital of the country. As per the 2011 census, 68.84% of Indian population resides in villages spread across 6, 40,867 locations. A 2007 report by United Nations, on envisioning urbanization prospects of the world, claims that India would continue to be the largest rural population in the world till 2050. India, being one of the fastest growing economies in the recent times, the potential role of women contributing towards the country's growth is immense. On one hand when we see growing population of urban women contributing significantly towards India's economic development, opportunities for economic development continues to be limited for rural women. Over years, India has witnessed migration of men from rural households towards cities to earn their livelihoods. Deeply ingrained gender roles, thereby comes across as a critical factor for limiting women's opportunities for earning their livelihoods in rural geographies.