The Ministry of Rural Development has signed a non-financial MoU with PCI India to help women-led Self-Help Group enterprises tap into government procurement markets. The partnership, formalised under the DAY-NRLM umbrella, will provide capacity building, market linkages, and technical support to SHG entrepreneurs across seven states. This move connects India’s largest rural women’s network to the formal public procurement ecosystem, a critical step toward the government’s target of creating 6 crore Lakhpati Didis by 2029-30.
What Does the MoU Entail?
The non-financial MoU was signed under the chairpersonship of Shri Rohit Kansal, Secretary, Department of Rural Development. It was exchanged between Ms. Swati Sharma, Joint Secretary (Rural Livelihoods), Ministry of Rural Development, and Mr. Indrajit Chaudhuri, CEO and Country Director of PCI India.
The agreement formalises a collaboration that began in 2022 under an initiative called “Leveraging Public Procurement for Women’s Economic Empowerment.” The partnership will run for three years, from 2026 to 2029.
The centrepiece of the MoU is the proposed establishment of a National Resource Cell (NRC), or Public Procurement and Business Model Support Cell, within DAY-NRLM. This Cell, supported technically by PCI India, will provide strategic and operational support to strengthen procurement-linked enterprise ecosystems across all State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs).
Key Areas of Collaboration
The partnership will focus on several practical interventions. It will develop enterprise incubation frameworks, standard operating procedures, operational toolkits, and standardised capacity-building modules. It will also train and handhold SRLM teams and SHG enterprises on GeM onboarding, tender participation, quality standards, documentation, and procurement compliance. Additionally, it will promote sustainable enterprise models through renewable energy integration, sustainable production practices, and convergence with relevant government agencies.
Geographic Focus
For the financial year 2026-27, focused technical assistance is proposed in seven states: Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The partnership will also enable wider engagement with other states through national technical learning sessions, cross-state knowledge-sharing, and enterprise opportunity mapping.
DAY-NRLM: India’s Largest Rural Livelihood Mission
The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is the flagship poverty alleviation programme of the Ministry of Rural Development. It was launched in 2010 as the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), replacing the earlier Swarnajayanti Grameen Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY). In 2016, the programme was renamed DAY-NRLM.
The mission’s core objective is to reduce poverty by enabling rural poor households to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities. It operates as a centrally sponsored scheme, jointly funded by the central and state governments.
Four Core Components
DAY-NRLM works through four interconnected pillars:
| Component | Focus |
|---|---|
| Social Mobilisation | Formation and strengthening of self-managed, financially sustainable community institutions of rural poor women |
| Financial Inclusion | Access to formal credit through bank linkages, Bank Sakhis, and interest subventions |
| Sustainable Livelihoods | Farm and non-farm livelihood support including Mahila Kisan programmes and SVEP |
| Social Inclusion | Access to entitlements, awareness generation on health, nutrition, and gender issues |
Scale of Operations
As of mid-2026, DAY-NRLM has mobilised over 10 crore rural households into more than 90 lakh Self-Help Groups across all states and union territories. Other notable achievements include 4.62 crore SHG members engaged as Mahila Kisans, 3.5 lakh Krishi Sakhis and Pashu Sakhis deployed as community resource persons, and 3.74 lakh enterprises supported under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP). Over 11 lakh crore in bank loans have been disbursed to women SHGs since 2013-14, with a repayment rate exceeding 98%. Additionally, 47,952 Bank Sakhis have been deployed in bank branches to facilitate credit linkage.
Why Public Procurement Access Matters for SHGs
India’s public procurement market is enormous. Government departments, ministries, and public sector undertakings spend thousands of crores each year on goods and services. For SHG women producing handicrafts, food items, uniforms, office supplies, and handloom textiles, this market has remained largely out of reach due to lack of formal registration, quality certification, and knowledge of tender procedures.
The Womaniya on GeM Link
The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), launched in 2016, has transformed public procurement by creating a paperless, cashless, and contactless digital platform. In 2019, the government launched the Womaniya initiative on GeM, a dedicated interface for women entrepreneurs and SHGs to register, list products, and sell directly to government buyers.
In FY 2025-26, over 2.1 lakh women MSEs were registered on GeM, securing orders worth more than ₹28,000 crore. The Womaniya initiative covers designated product categories such as handicrafts, handloom, jute, coir, home decor, and office furnishings.
The MoU with PCI India aims to take this further by providing handholding support to SHG enterprises that are not yet GeM-ready. Capacity building on documentation, quality standards, and tender participation will help bridge the gap between grassroots production capacity and formal market access.
Connecting to the Lakhpati Didi Target
The partnership directly supports the Lakhpati Didi Mission, which aims to enable SHG women to earn an annual household income of at least ₹1 lakh. The earlier target of creating 3 crore Lakhpati Didis by 2027 was achieved ahead of schedule, and the government has now set a revised target of 6 crore Lakhpati Didis by 2029-30.
Public procurement access is a high-volume, stable revenue channel that can help SHG enterprises scale up significantly. Instead of depending only on local fairs and retail sales, women entrepreneurs can access recurring government orders for items like school uniforms, mid-day meal supplies, office stationery, and jute bags. This shift from sporadic to institutional demand is what makes procurement linkage a transformative tool for women’s economic empowerment.
Key Takeaways
- The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) signed a non-financial MoU with PCI India under DAY-NRLM to strengthen women-led enterprises through public procurement and market-linked enterprise development.
- A National Resource Cell (NRC) for Public Procurement and Business Model Support will be established within DAY-NRLM with technical support from PCI India.
- Focused technical assistance in FY 2026-27 will cover seven states: Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
- DAY-NRLM was launched in 2010 (renamed in 2016) and has mobilised over 10 crore rural households into more than 90 lakh SHGs across India.
- The Womaniya initiative on GeM, launched in 2019, registered over 2.1 lakh women MSEs and awarded orders worth more than ₹28,000 crore in FY 2025-26.
- The partnership aligns with the government’s target of creating 6 crore Lakhpati Didis by 2029-30, wherein SHG women earn at least ₹1 lakh annual household income.
