Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 06: The Mission Shakti Department of the Odisha government on Tuesday signed an MoU with the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) to promote green entrepreneurship among women SHGs and encourage the adoption of renewable energy.
The MoU was signed here in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida at Mission Shakti Bhawan.
The collaboration with OREDA is expected to support rural women entrepreneurs in developing environmentally sustainable enterprises and securing sustainable livelihoods, while enabling them to play a more meaningful role in the socio-economic development of their communities, Parida said.
At a programme organised here, Parida released Rs 99.26 crore towards interest subvention to 1.79 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
Speaking at the programme, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the Government is taking a series of measures to enhance the financial and institutional capacity of SHGs and their federations.
These interventions are aimed at creating new livelihood opportunities for women and strengthening women-led enterprises, thereby enabling more women to become Lakhpati Didis.
“Women are not merely beneficiaries of development; they are emerging as drivers of Odisha’s economic and social transformation. I am confident that Nari Shakti will lead the development journey of Odisha in the coming years,” Smt. Parida said.
These interventions are aimed at creating new livelihood opportunities for women and strengthening women-led enterprises, thereby enabling more women to become Lakhpati Didis, the Deputy CM added.
As part of the programme, a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Collective for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CINI) to further promote and expand the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ initiative.
A budgetary provision of Rs 575 crore has been made for interest subvention to SHGs during the financial year 2026-27. Earlier, in June, interest subvention of Rs 147.77 crore was released to 2.88 lakh SHGs.
With today’s release, a total of Rs 247.03 crore has been released towards interest subvention in the current financial year so far.
For 2026-27, a target of Rs 20,000 crore in bank credit linkage has been set for the SHGs. The combined support of bank credit, interest subvention and community funds is aimed at providing SHG members with adequate financial resources to strengthen their livelihoods and enterprises.
Additionally, Rs 151.28 crore was released under various community-based financial support mechanisms, which includes Rs 113.80 crore as Community Investment Fund to 371 Gram Panchayat-level Federations, Rs 29.31 crore as Revolving Fund to 15,526 SHGs, and Rs 8.18 crore as Vulnerability Reduction Fund to 605 Area Level Federations.
Under the Revolving Fund component, 15,526 SHGs across 29 districts—Angul, Baleshwar, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Balangir, Boudh, Kataka, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Kendrapara, Kendujhar, Khordha, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Sundargarh—received a total of Rs 29.31 crore.
Similarly, Rs 113.80 crore was released to 371 Gram Panchayat-level Federations across 26 districts. Representatives of Algum and Gadmotari Gram Panchayat-level Federations from Puri received cheques of Rs 45 lakh and Rs 35 lakh, respectively, towards Community Investment Fund.
Further, Rs 8.18 crore was released to 605 Area Level Federations across 19 districts—Angul, Baleshwar, Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kendujhar, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Sundargarh—towards Vulnerability Reduction Fund.
