Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday, 10 October 2026, announced plans to establish women-run Amul milk parlours across 18,000 villages in the state, in a bid to deepen rural women's participation in the dairy economy. The initiative is being formalised through a memorandum of understanding between the Gujarat Livelihood Promotion Company (GLPC) and Amul, India's largest dairy cooperative.

What the Initiative Involves

The proposed network of parlours is designed to offer women associated with self-help groups (SHGs) a direct entry point into the dairy value chain, giving them an independent and structured source of income. Patel made the announcement during the launch of a series of women-focused programmes in Rajkot, held ahead of the Navratri festival.

As part of the event, Amul parlour allotment letters were distributed to beneficiaries, alongside financial assistance for SHGs. Cash credit cheques worth ₹45 lakh were handed over to various groups — of which dairy-related SHGs received ₹40 lakh. An additional ₹1,08,640 was disbursed to other Sakhi Mandals under an e-commerce incentive scheme.

Government's Broader Women Empowerment Push

'The state government wanted to strengthen women's economic participation and help them become self-reliant through employment and entrepreneurship,' Chief Minister Patel said at the event.

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Jitu Vaghani highlighted that coordination between the Cooperation and Animal Husbandry departments would drive women's economic empowerment forward. He noted that more than three lakh Sakhi Mandals are currently active across Gujarat, working to help women achieve financial independence.

The GLPC also signed memorandums of understanding with institutions, government departments, banks, and organisations to support marketing of products made by women's groups. Institutions such as the National Institute of Fashion Technology and the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, will reportedly guide women in developing digital entrepreneurship skills.

Lakhpati Didi Progress and Financial Targets

Patel said more than 8.5 lakh women in Gujarat have already achieved the status of Lakhpati Didis — women earning over ₹1 lakh annually — referencing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national target of bringing six crore women to this status by 2029. The state government disbursed ₹800 crore in assistance last year for women's economic empowerment programmes and has indicated readiness to scale that up.

Role of Mission Mangalam and Saras Melas

Rural Development Minister Kunvarji Bavaliya credited Mission Mangalam with strengthening rural women's livelihoods. He cited sales of approximately ₹40 crore generated by around 8,500 self-help groups at 236 Saras Melas across Gujarat over five years, underlining how organised market access has bolstered women-led enterprises. The proposed milk parlour network is expected to add a dedicated retail channel to these ongoing livelihood efforts.

With Amul's brand muscle and the state's SHG infrastructure combining for the first time at this scale, the initiative will be closely watched as a potential model for dairy-linked rural women's entrepreneurship across India.