Concessional venture funds expand enterprise finance for marginalised communities
The government reports ₹613.02 crore approved for 145 companies under VCF-SC and ₹142.88 crore approved for 31 companies under VCF-BC.
The Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes has a ₹750 crore corpus and provides concessional assistance from ₹10 lakh to ₹15 crore. As of May 2026, the ministry reported ₹613.02 crore approved for 145 companies and ₹437.74 crore disbursed to 123 companies.
The separate fund for Backward Classes reported ₹142.88 crore approved for 31 companies and ₹70.23 crore disbursed to 19. Across the two funds, the ministry attributes about 4,500 direct and indirect employment opportunities and nearly ₹800 crore of productive assets to supported enterprises.
Why it matters
Patient and concessional capital can address financing gaps for founders who may face weaker access to conventional equity and credit networks.
SCULTRA point of view
The funds should publish portfolio survival, follow-on capital, repayment, revenue, employment quality and realised asset data. Approval and disbursement are inputs, while durable enterprise performance is the outcome.
Limitations
The figures are government-reported and use different reporting cut-off dates across programme materials. The release provides no audited portfolio performance, company-level outcome data, loss rate, counterfactual comparison or method for estimating jobs and asset value.
Source: Press Information Bureau / Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, 22 September 2026.