Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday announced a series of major initiatives aimed at strengthening women’s self-help groups (SHGs), including the rollout of women-owned buses, increased bank loan limits and construction of thousands of village organisation buildings across the state.

The announcements were made during a programme held at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat, where the Chief Minister virtually laid the foundation stone for 8,000 SHG Village Organisation–Mahila Grama Sangham buildings and launched a new saree design initiative intended for nearly one crore women across Telangana.

During the event, Revanth Reddy declared that 553 buses owned by women self-help groups would be formally flagged off at Parade Grounds on June 5. The initiative is part of the Telangana government’s broader plan to economically empower women by turning SHG members into transport entrepreneurs.

According to the Chief Minister, the government has already prepared a framework to help women’s self-help groups purchase 1,000 buses, which would later be leased to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC). Officials said the move is expected to generate stable income opportunities for women’s collectives while also expanding RTC’s operational capacity.

Revanth Reddy also announced a major increase in the bank-linkage loan ceiling available to women self-help groups. The loan limit has now been doubled from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh in an effort to encourage larger-scale economic activities and entrepreneurship among women.

Highlighting the scale of financial support already extended to SHGs, the Chief Minister said the state government had facilitated bank-linkage loans worth ₹60,472 crore for women’s groups. He added that ₹1,390 crore had already been disbursed under interest-free loan schemes aimed at supporting women-led enterprises.

Addressing women participants at the event, Revanth Reddy urged self-help groups to move beyond small livelihood activities and explore larger business opportunities and industrial ventures.

The Telangana government has consistently projected women’s economic empowerment as a key pillar of its welfare and development strategy. Self-help groups in the state play a significant role in rural livelihoods, microfinance activities, agricultural support programmes and community-level development initiatives.

Officials said the construction of 8,000 Mahila Grama Sangham buildings is intended to provide dedicated infrastructure for SHG meetings, financial activities, training programmes and local business coordination at the village level.

The latest announcements come as Telangana continues to expand welfare and economic programmes targeted at women, rural households and self-employment sectors ahead of upcoming local and state-level political engagements.

Telangana welfare schemes | Business Upturn

CM Revanth Reddy announces 8,000 SHG buildings, 553 women-owned buses and higher loan limits in telangana