Lakhpati Didi Yojana, the central government’s flagship scheme to empower women, got a major revamp in the Union Budget 2026 on Sunday. Under this, it has been proposed to expand community-owned She-Marts to provide support to women entrepreneurs. In her record ninth Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the upgraded scheme will create new earning opportunities for rural women and further strengthen Self-Help Groups (SHGs), which are the backbone of the mission.
She said that taking forward the success of the Lakhpati Didi programme, I propose to help women become owners of their own businesses rather than restricting them to just loan-related employment. Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) Marts will be developed as community-owned retail stores within cluster level unions, which will be set up with better and innovative financing methods.
What is Lakhpati Didi Scheme?
Lakhpati Didi Yojana, implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development, aims to help women of self-help groups to start small businesses and earn a sustainable income of at least Rs 1 lakh every year, so that they can become financially independent. The program trains women in a variety of skills, from sewing and plumbing to making LED bulbs and flying drones, and promotes employment that can increase family income.
In 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address from the Red Fort on Independence Day, had said that his dream is to create 2 crore Lakhpati Didis through the power of 10 crore women associated with SHGs across the country. In recent years, the scope of this scheme has increased and the goals of the government have gone beyond the initial target, which clearly shows that this scheme is playing an important role in promoting entrepreneurship among women at the grassroots level.
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