Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament on Friday. He said that the government wants women not only to earn their livelihood by taking loans but also to go beyond that and open their own outlets or become company owners.

For this he announced SHE Mart scheme. The full name of She Mart is Self-Help Entrepreneur. Under this scheme, women will be able to run retail shops through self-help groups. With this scheme, women will get access to a bigger market, it will be easier to create their own brand and they will have regular income. Also, local institutions like self-help groups can be further strengthened.

Retail shops will open

Through She Mart, women will be able to start retail shops on a large scale in groups with higher loans. Through these outlets, the government alleges that it will be able to put rural products on par with big brands.

The government believes that this is not possible through regular bank loans, hence better measures will have to be taken for this. He also said that such a big step cannot be taken with a normal bank loan. Therefore, women will be given new and better financing facilities.

Emphasis on increasing productivity

In the budget speech, Sitharaman said that these proposals will directly benefit the country’s youth, women, farmers and public-private investments. The Finance Minister told Parliament, ‘Our first duty is to accelerate and sustain economic growth. Increase productivity, strengthen competition and protect against global fluctuations. This proposal has come mainly because of the success of the Lakhpati Didi program.

What is Lakhpati Didi Scheme?

This program is run by the Ministry of Rural Development. Its objective is to help rural women, especially Self Help Group (SHG) members. These women are helped to start small businesses so that they can earn a stable income of at least Rs 1 lakh every year. This makes them financially strong and independent.

In this program women are taught many skills, like plumbing, making LED bulbs, using and repairing drones.