Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP)

Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP)

India is the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world, but the majority of start-ups are concentrated in urban areas. To promote rural entrepreneurship, generate sustainable non-farm livelihoods, and create local employment opportunities, the Government launched the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP).

Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP)

¨     Launched: 2016 (approved in May 2015 as a sub-scheme of DAY-NRLM; implementation began in 2016-17).

¨     Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development.

¨     Parent Scheme: Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).

¨     Objective: To help rural poor establish and sustain small non-farm enterprises, thereby reducing poverty, generating employment and promoting self-employment.

¨     Target Beneficiaries: Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and their family members, with preference to women, SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, persons with disabilities, rural artisans and other vulnerable households.

¨     Vision: To promote village entrepreneurship by creating an enabling ecosystem of knowledge, advisory and financefor rural enterprises.

Key Features

¨     Provides financial assistance, business management training, soft skills development and business development services.

¨     Facilitates bank credit, Community Enterprise Fund (CEF) support and convergence with schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.

¨     Promotes community-based decision-making, where community institutions identify entrepreneurs, assess enterprise viability and monitor business performance.

¨     Encourages both new enterprises and support for existing enterprises in manufacturing, services and trading sectors.

¨     Integrates digital tools for business planning, loan appraisal, enterprise tracking and programme monitoring through a centralized Management Information System (MIS).

Implementation Mechanism

¨     Implemented through State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs).

¨     Block Resource Centres–Enterprise Promotion (BRC-EPs) act as the nodal institutions at the block level.

¨     Community Resource Persons–Enterprise Promotion (CRP-EPs) provide mentoring, business planning, credit facilitation and market linkage support.

¨     SHGs, Village Organisations (VOs), Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) and other community institutions identify entrepreneurs, manage Community Enterprise Fund loans and monitor enterprise growth.

¨     Each block receives financial support of ₹6.50 crore, with an average investment of ₹27,083 per enterprise.

¨     At least 90% of CRP-EPs are selected from SHG households, while women constitute a minimum of 60% of the cadre.

¨     Each trained CRP-EP mentors up to 50 enterprises.

¨     The programme mandates that at least 60% of beneficiaries are women while ensuring representation of SC, ST, minority communities and persons with disabilities.

Key Achievements of SVEP

¨     Expansion of Rural Enterprises: SVEP has supported over 4.32 lakh rural enterprises (as on 30 June 2026) and builds upon the 10.29 crore rural households mobilised into Self Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM.

¨     Inclusive Growth: Around 86%of entrepreneurs belong to SC, ST, OBC and Minority communities, while around 75% of enterprises are owned or managed by women.

¨     Strengthening Rural Entrepreneurship: SVEP promotes first-generation entrepreneurs, supports manufacturing, services and trading enterprises, and encourages non-farm livelihoods to diversify rural incomes.

¨     Community Institution-Based Model: The programme strengthens the community entrepreneurship ecosystem through SHGs, CRP-EPs, and BRC-EPs, which provide enterprise identification, funding, mentoring and continuous handholding support.

¨     Positive Outcomes (QCI Mid-term Evaluation): The Quality Council of India (QCI) found that 99% of SVEP enterprises were profitable, contributed 57% of household income, earned an average monthly revenue of ₹39,000 (with manufacturing enterprises earning ₹47,800), while 96% of entrepreneurs reported increased savings.