Kolkata, August 17, 2026: At an orientation program in Ranchi, held a week ago, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) launched the first phase of the Jharkhand Incubator Programme construction. IIMCIP is implementing the project along with Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), approved by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Govt. of India.
The objective of the project is to promote rural entrepreneurship for women in Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to stimulate rural economic change, and help women to shift from the informal economy to large scale businesses. The program was inaugurated by Smt Dipika Pandey Singh, Minister for Rural Development, Govt of Jharkhand, along with Shri Manoj Kumar, Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Govt. of Jharkhand, Smt Garima Singh, Managing Director, Jharcraft, Shri Ananya Mittal, CEO, Jharcraft and JSLPS, and senior representatives from IIMCIP, JSLPS and the entrepreneurship and development ecosystem scopes.
Ajay Jain, Chairman, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park Board, in his comments about the program, stated:
“Women who run initiatives and enterprises in rural areas combine ambition and resilience. This can positively impact household incomes and the economy at large. Women entrepreneurs in rural areas lay the groundwork for a new generation of entrepreneurs and this IMCIP Jharkhand Incubator Programme helps provide the opportunity to eligible women entrepreneurs to gain the competencies needed for entrepreneurship.”
Shri. Ananya Mittal, IAS, CEO, JSLPS, said,
“Jharkhand Incubator Program is our effort to strengthen rural entrepreneurship by leveraging JSLPS’s community presence with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park’s incubation experience. Together, we can discover and bring to the best of the rural women entrepreneurs opportunities and means for scaling up their businesses. We also value the opportunity with this program to develop and enhance our field teams, establishing a fully capable system to uplift and sustain women entrepreneurs.”
The two-day training included discussions with experts on enterprise development and the inclusion of innovation and digital adoption in the market to address the challenges faced by rural women entrepreneurs. The discussions were facilitated by experts from AI- based solutions for rural women entrepreneurs, digital empowerment, branding and innovation-led enterprise. The participants from JSLPS district and block teams were briefed on the program and their role in finding women entrepreneurs. The orientation session was attended by 118 participants that included District Programme Managers (DPMs), District Managers – Enterprise Promotion (DM-EPs), Block Programme Officers – Enterprise Promotion (BPO-EPs), and Young Professionals - Non-Farm Livelihood (YP-NFLs). The session also included practice on the programApp to facilitate easy and efficient implementation of the program across the State.
As part of this three-year program, women entrepreneurs from Sakhi Mandals across the 24 districts and 264 blocks in Jharkhand will be evaluated, and the top 500 will be given advanced training, mentoring, and incubation. This program will also concentrate on the capacity building of JSLPS officials and community resource persons to mentor and support rural women-led enterprises.
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