NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform and DP World launch ‘We Rise’ initiative to empower women entrepreneurs

NITI Aayog NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform and DP World launch ‘We Rise’ initiative to empower women entrepreneurs The partnership aims to boost Indian women-led enterprises enabling their access to global markets

Posted On: 17 OCT 2025 5:36PM by PIB Delhi NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform and DP World, today announced a joint initiative ‘We Rise - Women Entrepreneurs Reimagining Inclusive and Sustainable Enterprises’. This programme under the aegis of WEP’s Award to Reward (ATR) initiative, aims to help women entrepreneurs in India to scale their businesses globally through trade facilitation, mentorship, and strategic partnerships.

On behalf of WEP, the Statement of Intent (SoI) was signed by Ms. Anna Roy, Mission Director, WEP, in the presence of Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog.

Under this ATR programme, women-led Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across India with high growth potential will be identified and mentored to expand globally. Using its global logistics network and trade expertise, DP World will collaborate with WEP to design interventions that enhance the export readiness of 100 women entrepreneurs, enabling them to meet global trade requirements and strengthen business capacity. Selected entrepreneurs will also have the opportunity to showcase their products at Bharat Mart in Dubai—a global B2B and B2C marketplace within the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), providing Indian businesses with access to international buyers.

As part of this effort, WEP and DP World have joined hands to empower product centric women entrepreneurs. With over 90,000 women entrepreneurs already engaged on the WEP platform, this partnership represents a unique public-private collaboration focused on expanding trade access and unlock opportunities for women businesses to grow exponentially. It reflects DP World’s commitment to inclusive trade by driving overall economic growth through a combination of expertise and ideas, enabled by strategic collaboration.

Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “This partnership supports the Government of India’s vision for women-led economic growth. Through ‘We Rise’, we aim to create an enabling environment where women entrepreneurs can grow, scale, and access global markets. By uniting efforts with DP World, a global leader in supply chain solutions, we are strengthening the foundation for long-term impact” Ms. Anna Roy, Mission Director, WEP stated that for realizing the goal of women lead development through entrepreneurship, there is a need for curated interventions for which it is necessary for organization in public and private sector to work in collaboration. She complimented DP World for taking this important initiative that will help in promoting women exporters.

WEP, incubated in NITI Aayog in 2018 as an aggregator platform, transitioned into a public-private partnership in 2022. It serves as national aggregator to strengthen India’s women entrepreneurship ecosystem and make women-led development a reality. With over 47 partners from the public and private sectors, WEP functions as an enabler, addressing six key ecosystem needs — access to finance, market linkages, training and skilling, mentoring and networking, compliance and legal assistance, and business development services.

Launched in 2023, the Award to Reward (ATR) initiative institutionalises WEP’s partnership framework bybringing together ecosystem stakeholders to address specific needs of women entrepreneurs while celebrating their success stories. It serves as a plug-and-play model fostering scalable collaborations and measurable impact.

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