AU Udyogini Programme is sowing seeds of empowerment, transforming the lives of enterprising women who are turning their hidden talent into flourishing businesses. It is dedicated to fostering community-based enterprises, self-help groups, and supporting women entrepreneurs in setting up independent businesses.
Started in 2018, AU Udyogini is currently operating across 23 districts including 5 aspirational districts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The initiative drives sustainable development by enabling women to build livelihoods, boost family incomes and foster overall community growth.
The AU Udyogini Program has engaged over 6,000+ rural women to foster entrepreneurship via self-help groups, individual ventures and collective enterprises- enabling 410 women to secure regular income through community led businesses.
Additionally, 3,920+ individual women entrepreneurs started small businesses and began to show growing profits. AU’s interventions strive to promote sustainable development by supporting local communities and improving the economic well-being of women.
This women-led community enterprise focuses on delivering FSSAI certified quality spices, gram flour and pure mustard oil. 6 centers have been established to support 110 women.
In 2022, “Khejri Mahila Producer Company”, a farmer producer organisation (FPO) was registered to execute the functioning of this women-led enterprise. In partnership with Jobner Agricultural University, Rajasthan, mustard and coriander seeds were distributed to 100 women farmers.
Nirjhari Artisans Producer Company, a registered entity having trademark, empowers women in making handcrafted home furnishing items, apparels & recycled paper products.
The company has trained over 200 women in delivering various products.
The AU Udyogini Individual Women Entrepreneurship (IWE) model is a holistic, multi-stakeholder framework for women’s empowerment through sustainable livelihood generation. Under this model, we deploy non-refundable seed capital to eliminate the upfront financial barrier that often excludes women from enterprise creation. This is complemented by a structured capacity-building architecture comprising:
To ensure effective handholding, we maintain close business monitoring through regular field-level engagement. At the three-month milestone following enterprise setup, we deliver:
Recognizing that women entrepreneurs face real-time challenges — often in isolation — we have integrated an AI chatbot across project locations, providing on-demand, confidential, and immediate problem-solving support. This technology bridge ensures that no woman navigates her entrepreneurial journey alone.
