Project Ekta, supported by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (funded by the Swarovski Foundation), was an incubation program located in the Pune area. This project pioneered the incubation of women-led and women-driven rural micro and nano enterprises, specifically those operated by groups of women rather than individual entrepreneurs. Prior to this, incubation programs for such groups were non-existent.

We identified and worked with three distinct micro-enterprise groups. One group produced health-based food products like papad, achar, and oils, with each woman in the network contributing to the production process. The second group focused on fisheries, harvesting edible and ornamental fish from a dam near Pune in a tribal area. The third group cultivated and marketed vegetables.

Over a period of one and a half years, we incubated these three groups, providing training, marketing, branding, business management knowledge, mentoring, and developing inventory management systems. Our philosophy was to propel these enterprises to the next level of business development. We believe that sustainable growth requires a focused effort to help small businesses transcend their current limitations and move into a higher orbit. Dhriiti’s role is to provide that crucial support at the right time.

A key element of this project was the formation of women’s collectives. This approach later became our standard operating procedure for all our women’s economic empowerment projects. We believe that for women to achieve sustainable livelihoods in rural areas, collective action is essential. Because individual women-owned businesses are often small, aggregation – whether in financing, production, or marketing – leads to increased bargaining power and ultimately