Summary of this article
Budget 2026 introduces SHE-Marts for women-led SHG enterprises
SHE-Marts aim to improve market access and incomes
Girls hostels planned to support women in STEM education
The government will create a new platform for women self-help groups (SHGs) for retail and start enterprises, and also launch self-help entrepreneur (SHE) Marts to address market accessibility for women entrepreneurs in rural India, Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget Speech on February 1, 2026.
The proposal extends from the Lakhpati Didi scheme and signals a policy shift from micro-credit-based livelihoods towards structured, women-owned enterprises. For SHGs or SHG households, the move is expected to improve income visibility, access to formal finance, and financial future.
Budget 2026 Push for Women-Led Enterprises
Presenting the proposal, Sitharaman described it as the next stage in the SHG income journey.
"I propose to help women take the next step from credit-linked livelihood to owners of enterprises," she said.
The Lakhpati Didi framework identifies SHG members whose household income has crossed Rs 1 lakh a year. The scheme has so far been oriented towards skill development, access to credit and local production activities. The introduction of SHE-Marts is the addition of a structured retail channel to this base to connect production directly to markets.
According to government data published on January 18, 2026, more than 850,000 cooperatives have been registered of which 660,000 are functional, serving 320 million members across 30 sectors with 100 million women have been linked to cooperatives through SHGs. The national target is to take the total number of Lakhpati Didis to 300 million.
What are SHE-Marts
SHE-Marts are planned as community-owned retail outlets within cluster-level federations of SHGs, particularly in agro and allied activity clusters.
"SHE-Marts will be set up as community-owned retail outlets to help women entrepreneurs," Sitharaman said, adding that ownership and management will remain with local collectives.
According to the Budget announcement, SHE-Marts will offer permanent market points for goods produced by SHGs, better direct access to markets, and facilitate the value-added and processed products. The outlets will be supported with more and innovative financing instruments. Detailed operational guidelines and their funding structures are yet to be notified.
Credit Availability and Household Finance Impact
Along with the retail push, the Centre has initiated a digital end-to-end loan system for SHG women. The system enables online loan applications with bank-linked approvals which reduces paperwork and delays.
Combining this with SHE-Marts, the approach could help to improve working capital cycles for women-run enterprises. At the household level, the model could help convert the irregular SHG earnings into more regular business income, help in dependence on informal borrowings, improve eligibility for formal loans, and help in asset creation through enterprise profits.
"Building on the Lakpati Didi programme, support for rural women to transition from credit-linked livelihoods to enterprise ownership through community-owned She Marts and innovative financing is a positive step. Greater clarity on implementation timelines, funding, and market linkages could further strengthen the impact of these initiatives”, saif Gurjodhpal Singh, India CEO at Tide.
Other Women-Focused Measures in Budget 2026
In addition to the focus on the push for women-led enterprises, the Union Budget 2026 has proposed support measures relating to education that are aimed at improving access and retention of women students.
Sitharaman said the government will establish one girls' hostel in every district through viability gap funding (VGF) and capital support. The proposed targeted accommodation will address the gaps faced by women students in higher education, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses that require long on-campus hours.
