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Abstract
Women constitute around half of the total world population, so is in India also. They are, therefore, regarded as the better half of the society. In ancient times, they were confined to the four walls of houses performing household activities. In modern times, they have come out of the four walls to participate in all sorts of activities. The global evidences buttress that women have been performing exceedingly well in different spheres of activities like academics, politics, administration, social work and so on. Now, they have started plunging into industry also and running their enterprises successfully. Therefore, while discussing on entrepreneurial development, it seems in the fitness of the context to study about the development of women entrepreneurs also in the country. Traditionally, women in India have been generally found in low productive sectors such as agriculture and household activities. Gender equality and economic development go hand in hand. The emergence of women entrepreneurs and their contribution be national economy is quite visible in India. They now constitute around 10% of the total number of entrepreneurs with a rapidly increasing trend. The growing recognition that the women have unique talents which could be harnessed for development, and for creating employment opportunities for others. Women entrepreneurs in India are handicapped in the matter of organizing and running businesses on account of their generally low levels of skills and for want of support system. The transition from homemaker to sophisticated business woman is not that easy. But the trend is changing. Women across India are showing an interest to be economically independent. Women are coming forth to the business arena with ideas to start small and medium enterprises. The modern large scale industry cannot absorb much of labor as it is capital intensive. The small scale industry plays an important role absorbing around 80% of the employment. The myth that women cannot engage in productive employment needs to be dispelled. They can be encouraged to set up small and medium scale industries on their own initiative. Entrepreneurship development for women is an important factor in economic development of India. This paper is an attempt to highlight the synergistical association between women entrepreneurship and economic development of India.