The number of rural women recognised as Lakhpati Didis under the government's flagship livelihoods initiative has climbed to 3.76 crore as of June 2026, according to a government factsheet released on Sunday, November 15, IANS reported. The initiative is implemented under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

A Lakhpati Didi is a self-help group (SHG) member whose household earns an annual income of at least Rs 1 lakh, counted as total household earnings from eligible farm and non-farm activities after expenses, and sustained across agricultural seasons and business cycles. The initiative was launched on August 15, 2023, with an initial target of two crore women, raised to three crore in February 2024; the government has now set a target of six crore rural women entrepreneurs by March 2029, according to the Press Information Bureau backgrounder.

Source: PIB backgrounder, Ministry of Rural Development (PRID 2336452)

3.76 croreLakhpati Didis as of June 2026
6 croreTarget by March 2029
+61%Rise in average monthly household income (IIM Ahmedabad)
10.13 croreSHG members in 94.40 lakh groups (Nov 12, 2026)

What the IIM Ahmedabad assessment found

An independent assessment conducted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, covering 6,531 respondents across 17 states and union territories, found a 61 per cent increase in average monthly household income and a 61.7 per cent rise in average monthly savings among Lakhpati Didi households, IANS reported, citing the factsheet.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

Official data in the factsheet also identifies 5.70 crore women as potential Lakhpati Didis. As of November 12, 2026, DAY-NRLM — originally launched in June 2011 to organise poor rural women into self-help groups — had mobilised approximately 10.13 crore SHG members into 94.40 lakh groups, working through Village Organisations and Cluster-Level Federations, so the initiative runs on the existing community network rather than a parallel delivery structure.

The figures are the government's own reported counts in the November 15 factsheet: the 3.76 crore total describes the position as of June 2026, and Lakhpati Didi status is an income outcome measured against the Rs 1 lakh household benchmark, not a cash payment to individual women.