New Delhi. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has identified 35 districts for focused Rural Business Hubs (RBH) intervention in consultation with State Governments. Services of repeated organizations have been enlisted in Gateway Agencies for supporting Panchayats in identification of potential RBHs and their development.

Rural Business Hub is a participatory development model for the rural areas of the country that is built on the platform of 4 P, i.e. Public-Private-Panchayat-Partnership. The RBH initiative is aimed at moving from mere livelihood support to promoting rural prosperity, increasing rural non-farm incomes and augmenting rural employment. So far 26 district RBH workshops have been organized and champion products have also been identified. In addition, financial assistance to 49 projects throughout the country has been extended for establishment of RBH.

The Rural Business Hubs scheme has been started in 2007 to spread the benefits of India’s rapid economic development to the rural areas through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).