Telangana launches ₹12.66-crore Challenge Fund to scale SHG women-led enterprises

Telangana’s Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty has launched a ₹12.66 crore Challenge Fund aimed at scaling women-led enterprises emerging from self-help groups across the state.

The initiative is being rolled out in collaboration with T-Hub, WE Hub and TBIS BITS Pilani Hyderabad. The fund is backed by the Ministry of Rural Development and anchored under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission incubator programme.

The Challenge Fund seeks to enable more than 300 women and youth-led enterprises through structured mentorship, technology support and market access. The broader objective is to move self-help group members from microfinance participation to formal entrepreneurship and scalable ventures.

Applications will open on March 8, 2026, coinciding with International Women’s Day. The programme will be implemented across all 33 districts of Telangana through a phased model that uses SERP’s district and block-level network.

From microfinance to enterprise scale

Telangana has over 65 lakh women organised into 4.35 lakh self-help groups, making it one of the largest grassroots women’s enterprise networks in the country. The new fund aims to build on this base by helping women formalise businesses in sectors such as manufacturing, food processing, agri-allied activities, services, handicrafts and emerging areas.

Selected enterprises will receive structured diagnostics, customised growth roadmaps and sector-specific mentoring. The programme will also provide digital enablement, branding support, market linkages and assistance in becoming investment-ready.

Officials said the focus is not only on livelihood support but on creating growth-oriented enterprises that can access formal credit and larger markets.

Divya Devarajan, IAS, CEO of SERP Telangana, said the fund marks a shift from basic livelihood assistance to structured enterprise development. “By creating a dedicated funding and incubation pathway, we are building a stronger foundation for inclusive growth and positioning rural founders as central to Telangana’s long-term economic trajectory,” she said.

Institutional backing

Under the partnership, TBIS BITS Pilani will provide research inputs, technical advisory and incubation support to improve product-market fit and operational strength. T-Hub will connect entrepreneurs to its network of over 2,000 startups, mentors and investors to support capital readiness and market integration.

WE Hub will lead founder mobilisation and acceleration efforts across districts, overseeing identification, selection and long-term mentoring of women entrepreneurs.

Mir Ali, Manager at TBIS BITS Pilani Hyderabad, said the collaboration will help translate grassroots enterprise potential into scalable businesses with stronger operational capability and access to capital.

Kavikrut, CEO of T-Hub, said the partnership is focused on integrating underserved founders into a performance-driven ecosystem and equipping them to compete at a national and global level.

Sita Pallacholla, CEO of WE Hub, said the programme aims to ensure women entrepreneurs, irrespective of geography, have equitable access to networks, knowledge and capital. She added that the initiative is about moving beyond inclusion towards economic leadership.

The state government sees the Challenge Fund as part of its broader push towards inclusive growth and its ambition to significantly expand Telangana’s economy by 2047, in line with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.