New Delhi: In the Union Budget 2026–27, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a major update aimed at strengthening the Lakhpati Didi Yojna — a flagship initiative designed to financially empower women, particularly those linked with self‑help groups (SHGs). The announcement reaffirmed the government’s commitment to expanding economic opportunities for women and supporting women‑led entrepreneurship across rural and semi‑urban India.
Expansion of the Lakhpati Didi Target
Under the updated Budget proposals, the government intends to increase the number of women who can benefit from the Lakhpati Didi initiative, building on its earlier successes. This builds on past targets where the number of women beneficiaries was raised from the original plan of 2 crore to 3 crore women entrepreneurs who generate at least ₹1 lakh in annual income through self‑employment and micro‑enterprise activities.
The Lakhpati Didi scheme — originally launched with the goal of enabling women associated with SHGs to earn sustainable incomes — has focused on training, financial support, credit access and business skills, helping women move from subsistence livelihoods to more stable and profitable ventures.
New Support Through SHE Marts
As part of the updated strategy, the Budget also introduced SHE Marts — a network of community‑owned retail outlets that will further support women entrepreneurs by providing them market access and business platforms to sell products and services they create. These outlets will be set up within cluster‑level federations of women entrepreneurs to help them transition from being credit‑linked livelihoods to becoming owners of enterprises themselves.
Finance minister Sitharaman said the SHE Mart concept is intended to help women scale their enterprises beyond micro‑credit and connect with larger consumer markets, thereby increasing the economic impact of rural women’s entrepreneurship.
Why This Matters
Economic Empowerment: By expanding the target beneficiaries and enhancing support mechanisms, the government aims to boost income levels and self‑reliance among millions of women across rural and semi‑urban India.
Entrepreneurship Growth: Providing women with market infrastructure like SHE Marts will help them commercialise their products, improve profitability, and capture new opportunities in formal markets.
Women‑Led Enterprises: This marks a shift from livelihood support to enterprise ownership, enabling women to build sustainable businesses rather than remaining micro‑credit beneficiaries.
Overall, the update to the Lakhpati Didi Yojna in Budget 2026 reflects the government’s broader focus on women’s economic participation and empowerment, aligned with efforts to strengthen self‑help groups, promote community entrepreneurship, and enhance financial inclusion for women across India.
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