THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

BHUBANESWAR, JUNE 23, 2026

Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd. (IMFA), through its CSR arm, the Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF), has launched the Sakhi Seed Initiative, an innovative programme aimed at empowering rural and nano women entrepreneurs who are often excluded from traditional sources of finance despite possessing viable business ideas and strong entrepreneurial potential.

Under the initiative, ten women entrepreneurs will receive grants of ₹5 lakh each, along with structured business mentorship from XIM Bhubaneswar to help them strengthen, sustain and scale their enterprises. The programme is founded on the principle of catalytic capital — patient, risk-tolerant funding that supports entrepreneurs during the earliest and most vulnerable stages of their business journey.

Unlike conventional financing mechanisms, the Sakhi Seed Initiative recognises that many promising women entrepreneurs operate outside the formal financial ecosystem. The absence of collateral, documented credit histories, formal registrations and extensive paperwork often prevents them from accessing institutional credit, even when they run resilient businesses that contribute significantly to their families and communities.

Commenting on the initiative, Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation Founder & CEO Shaifalika Panda said: “The programme seeks to build evidence that women who do not currently qualify for formal credit can establish sustainable, growth-oriented businesses when provided with the right combination of capital, mentorship and ecosystem support. Sakhi Seed Initiative has a broader ambition — to create a proof of concept that can influence entrepreneurial finance in India to look beyond collateral and extensive credit history.”

The initiative is guided by a distinguished Advisory Board comprising Ajaita Shah, Founder and CEO of Frontier Markets and President of Frontier Innovations Foundation; Chetna Gala Sinha, Founder of Mann Deshi Foundation; Shaifalika Panda, Founder and CEO of BIPF; Neha Juneja, Co-founder and CEO of IndiaP2P; and Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18.

Applications for the inaugural cohort are now open and will remain so until July 20. Interested women entrepreneurs can apply through the programme portal - https://imfasakhiseed.accubate.app/ext/form/23777/1/apply.

The Sakhi Seed Initiative is being implemented in partnership with CNBC-TV18’s Future. Female. Forward (FFF) platform, which will provide national visibility to participating women entrepreneurs while fostering broader conversations around inclusive entrepreneurship and gender-responsive finance.

As the programme’s knowledge and business school partner, XIM University will offer business coaching and capacity-building support to strengthen participants’ capabilities in enterprise planning, financial management, marketing and market linkages. The university will also facilitate access to industry experts and business networks, helping entrepreneurs build sustainable pathways for growth.