NEW DELHI: The Empowered Committee of the Ministry of Rural Development, chaired by Secretary (Rural Development) Rohit Kansal, on Saturday considered proposals under the Non-Farm Livelihoods (NFL) component of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), aimed at strengthening and expanding women-led rural enterprises, according to a release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), New Delhi.

Joint Secretary (Rural Livelihoods) Amit Shukla and Joint Secretary (Rural Livelihoods) Swati Sharma also attended the meeting, which focused on promoting entrepreneurship-based livelihood opportunities for rural women and advancing the national target of creating six crore "Lakhpati Didis," the release said.

Four New Incubator Proposals

The committee reviewed four new incubator proposals from Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu, IIM Lucknow and IIT Gandhinagar proposed as the respective incubator partners.

The proposals were presented by the principal secretaries or secretaries of the concerned states, state mission directors or chief executive officers of State Rural Livelihood Missions, and representatives of the proposed incubator institutions. Together, the four programs are designed to support more than 600 high-potential rural enterprises through structured interventions in business strategy, mentoring, financial planning, formalization, technology adoption, market access and access to finance, according to the release.

Building on Earlier Incubator Programs

The incubator sub-scheme builds on the experience of four earlier programs successfully completed in Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and Karnataka, which supported more than 600 self-help group (SHG) enterprises. The initiative has since expanded substantially, with 14 incubator programs currently running across 13 states in partnership with IIMs, IITs and other leading incubation institutions, supporting roughly 2,100 rural SHG enterprises, the release said.

Earlier programs have shown measurable outcomes, including revenue growth, improved business formalization and additional employment generation, according to the ministry.

The new incubators will focus on food and agro-processing, textiles and handicrafts, manufacturing, retail and services, tourism-related activities, digital enterprises and other locally relevant growth sectors. A transparent, merit-based challenge fund has been established to select enterprises with strong growth potential, alongside dedicated State Incubation Cells under State Rural Livelihood Missions to institutionalize enterprise support, the release said.

The committee also reviewed proposals to expand the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) in West Bengal and Goa, intended to further strengthen the rural non-farm entrepreneurship ecosystem and enable more SHG members to establish and grow sustainable enterprises.

Part of Broader Lakhpati Didi Push

According to the release, these initiatives reinforce the government's commitment to women-led economic growth and the Lakhpati Didi initiative, aiming to help rural women entrepreneurs move from subsistence-level businesses toward enterprises with higher turnover, stronger market linkages, better access to finance and greater employment potential.

The Empowered Committee emphasized innovation, institutional partnerships, outreach, digital adoption, market access and outcome-based monitoring, with the stated goal of building a robust national mechanism for the promotion and sustainable development of women-led rural enterprises under DAY-NRLM.

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