Hyderabad: Telangana launched a first-of-its-kind rural women incubator programme on Friday to support growth-oriented women-led enterprises.
Through the initiative, the government aims to help rural women become entrepreneurs and job creators.
Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Dr Danasari Anasuya Seethakka inaugurated the programme at Komaram Bheem Adivasi Bhavan in Hyderabad.
Addressing the gathering, the minister said the government viewed women as industry leaders and business owners rather than job seekers.
She said the government launched the initiative under Mahila Varosthavalu as part of the Praja Palana Pragathi Pranalika. Moreover, the programme aims to strengthen economic independence among rural women.
“We don’t want women to remain job seekers. We want women to become job creators,” Seethakka said.
The minister described the initiative as a financial movement that would help women expand businesses and pursue entrepreneurial ambitions.
She added that the programme supports Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s vision of transforming one crore women self-help group members into crorepatis.
Rural women incubator receives ₹21.40 crore support
SERP is implementing the programme in partnership with T-Hub, BITS Pilani and WE Hub.
With an outlay of ₹21.40 crore, the rural women incubator will support 300 high-potential women-led enterprises across Telangana.
The government earmarked ₹8.74 crore for incubation support. In addition, it allocated ₹12.66 crore for enterprise financing through grants and zero-interest soft loans.
The programme follows a Challenge Fund model. Consequently, officials will identify scalable businesses and provide structured support.
The support package includes business diagnostics, formalisation, mentoring, branding, digital onboarding and market access.
Furthermore, technology-enabled monitoring systems will track the progress of participating enterprises.
Rural women incubator targets jobs and revenue growth
Seethakka said the programme could help participating enterprises achieve annual revenue growth of at least 15%.
The initiative could also generate between 900 and 1,200 jobs in rural areas.
According to the minister, the government intends to create a replicable model for rural enterprise acceleration across Telangana.
She also highlighted measures that support women’s economic participation. For example, the government increased the interest-free loan limit for women self-help groups from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
The minister said banks have extended more than ₹60,000 crore in linkage loans to women’s groups across the state.
She noted that women self-help groups earned strong credibility with financial institutions through nearly 100% repayment rates.
Meanwhile, Seethakka said the government wants products made by rural women to reach international markets.
She cited tamarind-seed masks made by women from Cheriyal as an example of rural innovation. The government presented those products to visitors from the Netherlands.
SERP Chief Executive Officer Divya Devarajan, T-Hub Chief Executive Officer Kavikrut, WE Hub Chief Executive Officer Sita Pallacholla, SERP Non-Farm Director Johnson, DRDO representatives, women federation members, self-help group members and entrepreneurs attended the event.