Parliament Question: SARAS Melas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2535 ANSWERED ON 04/08/2026 SARAS MELAS 2535. Shri Tangella Uday Srinivas: Shri G Lakshminarayana: Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) the number of Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and other rural enterprises registered on the eSARAS platform, State-wise, including district-wise details for Andhra Pradesh; (b) the value and volume of sales made through the eSARAS platform, classified State and district-wise including Andhra Pradesh; (c) number of SARAS Melas organised in the country indicating the number of participating SHGs/FPOs, footfall, sales generated and major institutional and retail buyers participating in such Melas, State and district-wise; (d) the measures taken by the Government to onboard more SHGs, FPOs and rural producers onto the eSARAS platform, including training, digital capacity building, marketing support and logistics assistance; and (e) whether the Government has undertaken any assessment of the impact of the eSARAS platform and SARAS Melas on enhancing market access and incomes of rural producers, if so, details regarding the key findings and outcomes thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. CHANDRA SEKHAR PEMMASANI) (a) & (b): The Ministry has developed and launched the eSARAS platform, which serves as a dedicated digital marketplace for SHG products. In addition to facilitating direct sales through its own platform, eSARAS also enables the onboarding and sale of SHG products on other major e-commerce platforms. The State/UTs wise details of the registered SHGs/FPOs,etc. value and volume of sales Page 1 of 5on the esaras platform including other major ecommerce platforms (Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho etc.) are provided as Annexure I. (c): As per the Ministry’s guidelines, all State Rural Livelihoods Missions may organize at least two SARAS melas annually in their respective States/UTs. In the financial year 2025-26, four national level melas have been organized with a cumulative sale of Rs. 35.73 crores. The State/UTs wise details are provided as Annexure II. (d): The eSARAS platform is a digital marketplace developed by the Ministry of Rural Development under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), in collaboration with the Digital India Corporation, to enable women- led Self Help Groups (SHGs), rural artisans and producer collectives to market their products nationally. To onboard more SHGs, FPOs, rural producers and strengthen their market access, the Ministry has provided digital onboarding support, including online product catalogues, inventory management and secure digital payment facilities. Women associated with SHGs are imparted training in digital onboarding, branding, packaging, product photography, digital marketing, customer service and product pricing. A dedicated Fulfilment Centre has been established to streamline the product collection, packaging, inventory management and last mile shipping of SHG products. The capacity building initiative focuses on digital marketing and facilitation of participation in selected business fairs and exhibitions to promote export ready SHG products. The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj regularly conducts capacity building and skill development programmes to support SHG members on product development, branding, packaging, quality improvement, digital marketing, enterprise management, export procedures and documentation, and market readiness to strengthen their access to domestic and international markets. (e): The Ministry regularly reviews the performance of the eSARAS platform and marketing initiatives, including SARAS Melas through sales reports and periodic consultations with States. The assessment indicates that these initiatives have significantly enhanced market access for women SHGs by connecting them with customers beyond their local markets through both physical and Page 2 of 5digital channels. SARAS Melas have provided SHGs with direct marketing opportunities, increased product visibility, facilitated interactions with institutional and retail buyers, and generated substantial sales, while eSARAS has enabled year-round online market access. **** Page 3 of 5Annexure I Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) & (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2535 due for answer on 04.08.2026 The State/UTs wise details of the registered SHGs/FPOs etc. value and volume of sales on the esaras platform including other major ecommerce platforms (Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho etc.). No. of Value of Sales Volume Sl. no. States/UTs SHGs/FPOs (₹) (Units) 1. Andhra Pradesh 5 1,07,583 51 2. Arunachal Pradesh 1 0 0 3. Assam 9 19,252 59 4. Bihar 5 44,605 53 5. Chhattisgarh 5 54,497 37 6. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman 1 190 1 and Diu 7. Goa 3 2,369 5 8. Gujarat 5 984 2 9. Haryana 11 4,04,003 979 10. Himachal Pradesh 6 54,324 137 11. Jammu & Kashmir 7 5,42,537 1,142 12. Jharkhand 15 2,29,713 591 13. Karnataka 11 3,35,667 630 14. Kerala 4 17,437 67 15. Madhya Pradesh 11 6,52,534 1,325 16. Maharashtra 11 19,151 50 17. Manipur 1 0 0 18. Meghalaya 3 9,017 13 19. Mizoram 1 0 0 20. Odisha 22 2,13,206 207 21. Puducherry 1 1,960 12 22. Punjab 16 3,40,305 706 23. Rajasthan 14 2,99,373 629 24. Telangana 1 0 0 25. Tripura 4 15,534 46 26. Uttar Pradesh 44 1,07,03,611 34,766 27. Uttarakhand 10 14,791 31 28. West Bengal 22 2,00,272 430 Total 1,42,82,915 249 41,969 (₹ 1.43 crore) Page 4 of 5Annexure II Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2535 due for answer on 04.08.2026 The details of National level SARAS melas during the financial year 2025- 26 organised in the Delhi NCR. No. of Members Sl participated No. State Name Total Sales (₹) ( SHGs/FPOs/etc) 1 Andhra Pradesh 13035245 75 2 Arunachal Pradesh 2022188 39 3 Assam 9446590 53 4 Bihar 15530833 86 5 Chhattisgarh 8462799 66 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 6 and Daman and Diu 102700 2 7 Goa 6194471 34 8 Gujarat 15888588 77 9 Haryana 15934414 62 10 Himachal Pradesh 10472682 78 11 Jammu And Kashmir 13432510 67 12 Jharkhand 9600265 74 13 Karnataka 6690107 55 14 Kerala 14354902 75 15 Ladakh 2551291 20 16 Madhya Pradesh 8014177 64 17 Maharashtra 12203720 74 18 Manipur 1861930 14 19 Meghalaya 902343 19 20 Mizoram 869095 12 21 Nagaland 1830240 25 22 Odisha 10802780 64 23 Puducherry 2212638 14 24 Punjab 11560465 61 25 Rajasthan 26345062 100 26 Sikkim 2296225 29 27 Tamil Nadu 9702575 79 28 Telangana 13649350 69 29 Tripura 3455115 23 30 Uttar Pradesh 32534602 127 31 Uttarakhand 17477014 74 32 West Bengal 56809977 98 33 Convergence Pavilion 535040 10 34 Demonstration Pavilion 520920 8 35 Saras gallery 16370 8 357319223 Total (₹ 35.73 crore) 1835 ***** Page 5 of 5