IIT Bhubaneswar, OLM Join Hands to Empower SHGs

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Tuesday, 9 June 2026

IIT Bhubaneswar and the Odisha Livelihoods Mission (OLM) have signed a new MoU to launch an incubation program that seeks to convert SHGs into successful MSMEs.

The collaboration will focus on providing end-to-end support to rural women entrepreneurs in various aspects of enterprise development, business planning, product/process development, quality systems, better market linkage, financing, and professional networking.

IIT Bhubaneswar emerges as the chosen incubation partner to enhance growth of rural businesses in Odisha. It will work on developing an effective incubation ecosystem for firms through enterprise scaling, business models optimization, capacity building, and innovative advisory services.  The institute will provide specialized technical help in patenting processes and creating certifications for selected rural products from Odisha.

The objective of this program is to ensure unique identities are developed for products, allowing better branding and access to premium markets through the development of intellectual property rights.

Key Highlights:

• IIT Bhubaneswar to incubate 150 rural enterprises under ₹10.7 crore NRLM plan
• Odisha SHGs to become enterprises via IIT Bhubaneswar incubation support
• IIT BBS to enable women-led rural enterprises with end-to-end support

The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) scheme will provide incubation to around 150 rural enterprises that have a growth mindset in Odisha for the next three years. The scheme will receive an amount of ₹10.7 crore from the Ministry of Rural Development for its implementation, which includes incubation of enterprises, scaling of enterprises, and improvement of livelihood opportunities. The first step in implementing the project will include providing ₹99 lakh to IIT Bhubaneswar.

With an endeavour to create an ecosystem conducive to entrepreneurship, this mission aims at transforming SHGs into organised enterprises for the benefit of small and medium-sized businesses within Odisha.

The identified SHG enterprises will be taken through various processes relating to the formalisation of their operations, such as the Udyam registration process, the compliance of statutory requirements, as well as the attaining of relevant industry certifications. This has been stated in a press release by the Mission Shakti department.

According to Deputy Chief Minister Odisha, Pravati Parida, it is important for the state government to not only ensure job creation for women but also work towards making them self-reliant entrepreneurs who can create sustainable ventures for themselves.

As per the statement made by the leader, the tie-up between the government and IIT Bhubaneswar would enable the SHG women to receive technical guidance, training and other kinds of assistance to make sure that their products have competitive positions in the domestic as well as international market. According to her, the tie-up between the two would prove to be a significant step in achieving the ‘Viksit Odisha’ objective of the government.

Shreepad Karmalkar, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar, revealed that there would be provision for holistic support to enterprises that are going through the process of incubation. This will include assistance for registering their businesses in accordance with Udyam, compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, as well as obtaining necessary certifications. In addition, special support will be extended by the institute for filing patents and for certification of certain products.

Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) which is a part of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) scheme, continues with the execution of its rural enterprise development strategy through this incubation.