Dr Priti Adani Calls For Women To Anchor India’s Growth Story

 Speaking at the “Sashakt Nari, Viksit Bharat” conference organised by the Chintan Research Foundation (CRF), a New Delhi-based public policy think tank, Dr Priti Adani, Chairperson of the Adani Foundation, called for women to be recognised as central architects of India’s growth journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047.

Welcoming Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Annapurna Devi, Dr Adani acknowledged the policy momentum behind women-led development, while urging a shift from intent to sustained economic participation.

Drawing on grassroots experience, she emphasised that empowerment begins with access. In rural communities where formal education levels are limited, women farmers supported by the Foundation, the social welfare and development arm of the Adani Group, have been introduced to simple agricultural mobile applications that guide irrigation, fertiliser use, seed selection and mandi price tracking. Improved access to information has translated into higher productivity, stronger incomes and greater confidence.

In the dairy sector, collective action has reshaped earning potential. Self-help group-led milk collection centres, facilitated by the Foundation, now include more than 3,500 women who collectively handle over 75 lakh litres of milk annually. Transparent pricing, quality testing and organised procurement have enhanced income stability and bargaining power.

Dr Adani also referenced the Foundation’s flagship maternal and women’s health initiative, SuPoshan, through which trained local women volunteers have supported improved health outcomes for over 3.25 lakh women in the reproductive age group. Additionally, the Swabhimaan programme has enabled more than 4,500 women across 300 enterprise self-help groups to pursue sustainable livelihoods.

She underscored that empowerment is not about charity, but about expanding access to skills, finance, markets and leadership pathways.

Referring to the recent Union Budget’s Self-Help Entrepreneurs initiative, Dr Adani described it as an important policy step in enabling women to transition from micro-credit participants to enterprise owners with access to growth capital. She noted its alignment with the Foundation’s framework of Supporting Her Exponential Empowerment.

Across discussions on enterprise, governance and rural leadership, the message remained consistent: women’s economic participation is foundational to India’s long-term prosperity.

Concluding her address, Dr Adani urged institutions to dismantle structural barriers and widen access to opportunity. India’s next phase of development, she said, will be shaped in classrooms, training centres, village enterprises and digital marketplaces led by confident women.

Her closing words resonated with clarity: “Let her. And she will”.