The Ministry of Rural Development on 22 August reviewed fresh proposals to accelerate women-led rural enterprise development, as part of the Centre's national target of creating 6 crore Lakhpati Didis. The Empowered Committee, chaired by Secretary (Rural Development) Rohit Kansal, examined plans under the Non-Farm Livelihoods (NFL) component of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) to graduate self-help group (SHG) enterprises from subsistence-level activity into growth-oriented businesses.

Four New Incubator Proposals on the Table

The committee considered four new incubator proposals covering Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat. Their respective academic partners are IIT Patna, IIM Jammu, IIM Lucknow, and IIT Gandhinagar. Together, the four programmes are designed to support more than 600 high-potential rural enterprises through structured interventions spanning business strategy, mentoring, financial planning, formalisation, technology adoption, market access, and credit linkage.

The sectors targeted include food and agri-processing, textiles and handicrafts, manufacturing, retail and services, tourism-linked activities, digital enterprises, and other locally relevant growth areas.

Building on a Proven Track Record

The Incubator Sub-Scheme draws on the results of four completed programmes in Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, and Karnataka, which collectively supported over 600 SHG enterprises and demonstrated measurable gains in revenue growth, business formalisation, and employment generation. Since then, the programme has scaled considerably: 14 incubator programmes are currently operational across 13 states, supporting around 2,100 rural SHG enterprises through partnerships with premier institutions including IIMs, IITs, and leading incubation bodies.

SVEP Expansion in West Bengal and Goa

The committee also reviewed proposals to expand the startup Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) in West Bengal and Goa. The expansion aims to deepen the rural non-farm entrepreneurship ecosystem and enable more SHG members to establish and scale sustainable enterprises in their local economies.

Government's Position and the Lakhpati Didi Framework

'These initiatives reinforce the Government's commitment to women-led economic development and the Lakhpati Didi initiative, by enabling rural women entrepreneurs to progress from subsistence-level businesses to enterprises with higher turnover, stronger market linkages, improved access to finance and greater employment potential,' the official statement said. The Lakhpati Didi initiative targets rural women earning at least ₹1 lakh annually through SHG-linked livelihoods. The push to reach 6 crore such women represents one of the flagship social-economic commitments of the current government. The latest round of incubator approvals signals an intent to move beyond basic SHG credit and into structured enterprise development — a qualitative shift in how the Centre approaches rural women's economic inclusion.