ALEAP has been creating an ecosystem for women entrepreneurs for 30 years

A mother is a guiding light capable of shaping her child’s life and influencing many others. One such mother who successfully influenced her daughter to become what she is today hails from a small village in Andhra Pradesh. The success of this women entrepreneur’s journey is incomplete without recognizing and giving credit to her mother. Lakshmi Bai Potluri, recipient of President Award for Social Service, is the guiding light for her daughter, Rama Devi Kanneganti. An educator, business consultant, social worker and a successful entrepreneur, Rama Devi is the Founder and president of Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India and Chairperson of Atal Incubation Centre ALEAP We-Hub. Founded in 1993, Aleap, originally known as Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra Pradesh (ALEAP), has 10,000 members, including 5,000 established entrepreneurs. From last 30 years, Aleap India created an entrepreneurial ecosystem in manufacturing sector for the development of women entrepreneurship. Aleap India has created a platform for incubation of startups at its Industrial Estate at Pragathi Nagar in Hyderabad. Their flagship programmes include facilitator business cell, centre for entrepreneurship development, Aleap credit guarantee association, Vipani, Vandemataram and AIC Aleap We-Hub.

“You are happy when the society is happy, are the golden words of my mother. I am following her advice and taking forward her good deeds,” says Rama Devi in an exclusive conversation with Bizz Buzz

Who has influenced you during your formative years?

I was born and raised in a village in Andhra Pradesh. Our village did not have an English medium school. My mother, Lakshmi Bai Potluri wanted me to study in an English medium and hence she started a school in which the medium of instruction is English. Though my mother studied till primary, her heart to help and support the less fortunate ones was ambitious. She introduced Montessori education system back then in the 1960’s and ended up educating more than 4,000 children. As a single woman she went on to generate employment for women by starting a bandage cloth industry. As these working women needed a place to stay, she sought a grant from the government of India and established a working women’s hostel. She started a hospital for taking primary healthcare to women. My father is a doctor, but my mother with the basic knowledge and exposure she had ended up serving women and children in many ways. My mother received the President Award for Social Service. I grew up seeing my mother reforming many lives. Along with her I had visited the Chief Minister’s office to seek exemptions or allotment of land, facilities for school etc. My mother opened up a new world. She used to say, you should think about yourself, but simultaneously think about the society also.

How did the first tryst with business happen?

After finishing degree, I got married at 18 and moved to Hyderabad. My husband invested in a sick small-scale unit. He wanted to revive that unit. We being from agriculture background faced many hurdles entering into manufacturing sector. To support him, I joined that company. We used to run from pillar to post to get bank loan, get orders and so on. During that period, I learnt a lot about business acumen. Nursing a patient is like becoming a doctor, the same was with nursing a sick industry. It took us 10 years to revive that unit as we had no option of getting out after pledging our property papers. After spending crucial years of our life into that company, we later started Shiva Engineering. Here, we had good business, growth and income generation. While nurturing the sick unit, I was selected as the president of women’s wing of Federation Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This role added to my experience as the exposure and knowledge I gained was by networking with other companies, government departments and stakeholders.

How did Aleap take birth?

With me, there were other few women members in FAPCCI. The male dominated trade body never looked from a women entrepreneur’s perspective. Gender sensitivity towards growth or supporting women to become entrepreneurs was missing. A woman cannot do business, we cannot scale our enterprise, she cannot become industrialist these assumptions and attitude was strong in 1980’s. During my president tenure, I had the opportunity to organise a conference for women. Then the AP Chief Minister Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy was invited as the chief guest. Taking this opportunity, I requested for his support and put forward our vision of establishing a women’s industrial estate. After the conference, five FAPCCI women members brainstormed on setting up of an association exclusively for women. That is when Aleap [Association of Lady Entrepreneurs Andhra Pradesh] was formed in 1993.

How was the experience of establishing an industrial park for women?

N Chandrababu Naidu came into power after Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy. We were allotted 20 acres by Chief Minister Reddy and additional 10 acres in Hyderabad along with the government order (GO) after Naidu came into power. He (Naidu) was a dynamic CM who wanted to push women into industrialization as active participants. He also agreed to lay the stone for Aleap Industrial Park. Getting land allotted from the government took us two years, getting power took us a year and then finance took us another one year, three-four years went into receiving the basic infrastructure for the industrial park. Unless you have the name and fame, the best is not served on a platter. This land that we received then was barren filled with rocks and snakes. Till then, Aleap as a NGO was two-years old. We had 100 members by then. We paid Rs 50,000 per acre for 30 acres of land in 1994. We levied a fee of Rs 350 per square yard for Aleap members, now it has come up to Rs 1 lakh. During that time, I had this thought that why should we struggle at every stage when we have an idea. Instead, a plug and play model of setting up an industry should be offered to a woman entrepreneur. They are not beggars to beg at every stage of setting up a business. In 30 acres we made around 140 plots. For the development of the estate, we went to APISD. They quoted Rs 4 crore, which was a burden on women members. During that period, I was nominated into National Board of MSME. Here I got to know about Integrated Infrastructure Development, a Central government scheme. I applied for this scheme for Aleap industrial park as a cluster, which is now known as a cluster programme. But, as a not-for-profit organisation we were not eligible for the scheme. I convinced Vasundhara Raje, the then minister for MSME who passed a special GO. We received 40 per cent grant in the development work, on land and infrastructure too. We called for tenders and for Rs 2.5-3 crore the industrial park was developed. We opened the whole country to women entrepreneurship. An auto driver and electrician’s wife with financial support from the banks were able to start and flourish an enterprise. Currently we have around 250 industries generating 10,000 jobs.

Tell us about Aleap’s flagship programmes…

The next step was creating a training institute to skill women. A Centre for Entrepreneur Development, supported by the Ministry of MSME, GoI was formed. Here, women without any formal education but having the zeal to start a business receive training. The centre is affiliated to EDII, Ahmedabad. Going a step ahead, to connect and reach out to women in rural, we started an industrial park in Vijayawada. Though the government was all about talks, we found it hard to receive any support. So, we purchased 30 acres and applied for the same grant. Now, 70 industries are providing employment to nearly 5,000 people here. Entrepreneurship is not only about infrastructure, we need finance too.

Though you have an idea but getting finance is tricky. Gender disparity is ingrained in the society which is a fact to be accepted. A woman without any guarantee cannot get finance from the male members of her family too. An idea without finance will not materialize. So, I created a Section 8 company called as Aleap Credit Guarantee Association. We gave Rs 25 lakh to Andhra Bank, and asked them to provide 10 times the amount as loan to Aleap members, without collateral. Now, we have MoU’s with many banks in place. ACGA is a bridge between bankers and entrepreneurs. It’s an integrated mechanism to make life of entrepreneur’s smooth as sustainability is our goal.

We have MoU’s with institutes for knowledge sharing about latest technology. Later, as we had surplus member fees we bought machineries for setting up of an incubation centre. AIM was looking for existing incubators and Aleap India became eligible in 2009. That’s how AIM Aleap We-Hub was created, a startup incubator one among the 70, present across India. We have Aleap green industrial park in Sangareddy district. In Visakhapatnam we got a land allotted from the government for another industrial park. We entered Rs150-crore MoU with the Odisha government to set up an industrial park in every district there. Aleap does not believe in opening a chapter in every State instead we are into capacity building for local associations.

Which entrepreneur’s success story has touched upon you?

In 1993, Padmavathi, now a successful women entrepreneur came to me after watching me on television. She has studied till eighth class and hails from a village. She was the third entrepreneur trained by us to set up a unit in this industrial park. Now, she owns two industries and supplies big pharma companies with adhesive labels. Her perseverance, confidence and every penny saved, helped her grow the business.

What is the take away from all the roles you have taken up?

I will never stop learning. From each role and each person, I want to learn. I am open to change. My attitude is that of competitive spirit, not wanting to stop. Open to learning at every level.

Who is Rama Devi, as a person?

As a person, Rama Devi enjoys being a friend. I appreciate the support received from my friends, Aleap members and government. It’s not like I did everything by myself. Lot of empathy is required to support an entrepreneur starting their journey, I am just that helping hand.

Are entrepreneurs aware about govt’s schemes for MSMEs?

Entrepreneurs are not aware of most of the MSME schemes offered by the government. What we are utilising now is just two per cent of the schemes available. Dissemination of information particularly for women in the grass root level is missing. The department themselves are sometimes not aware, but there are wonderful schemes announced by the government.

Which sector in the manufacturing does India need to focus on?

We need to focus on manufacturing sectors in which we are strong. One is agriculture, such as agri processing and food processing, should be the focus. India should be the food bowl for the world, and that capacity our country does have. Handicrafts, textiles can lead India towards main exporters. Focus has to be on sectors which provide employment from opportunity sectors, besides rural penetration with these sectors is also the need of the hour.

What is your take on skill training?

We need an ecosystem as that of a community college. Our education system focuses on selective streams. We need to adopt Germany’s dual skill development.

What plans has Aleap India lined up?

We are working on setting up a centre for defence incubation. Our focus is on international trade as we want women to become global players. We are looking at opening up export import trade for our entrepreneurs to take their product to bigger markets.