Bharat Vistar to SHE Marts: FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces new initiatives for agriculture and rural sector

The Finance Minister allocated Rs 150 crore for the Bharat-VISTAAR for the next financial year (2026-27).

According to the sources, the first version of Bharat VISTAAR will be launched in Hindi and English and will gradually become capable of responding in regional languages. “Bharat VISTAAR is not only an App, but a National Digital Backbone — uniting Central and State systems, while preserving state autonomy,” said a source.

“Bharat VISTAAR will evolve through collaboration with not-for-profit organisations, AI startups, technology firms, and AI Centres of Excellence. It leverages the national AI ecosystem, including the India AI

Mission and BHASHINI. The Bharat VISTAAR is interactive; farmer feedback flows back into Government systems. This will help in evidence-based policy making and research prioritisation,” the source added.

Coconut Promotion Scheme

The Finance Minister also announced a new initiative to promote high-value agriculture and allocated Rs 350 crore for the 2026-27 financial year.

“To diversify farm outputs, increase productivity, enhance farmers’ incomes, and create new employment opportunities, we will support high-value crops such as coconut, sandalwood, cocoa, and cashew in our coastal areas. Agar trees in North East and nuts such as almonds, walnuts and pine nuts in our hilly regions will also be supported,” she said.Observing that India is the world’s largest producer of coconuts and about 30 million people, including nearly 10 million farmers, depend on coconuts for their livelihood, Sitharaman said, “To further enhance competitiveness in coconut production, I propose a Coconut Promotion Scheme to increase production and enhance productivity through various interventions including replacing old and non-productive trees with new saplings/plants/varieties in major coconut growing States.”

Sitharaman also proposed a dedicated programme for Indian cashew and cocoa to make India self-reliant in raw cashew and cocoa production and processing, enhance export competitiveness and transform these cash crops into premium global brands by 2030.

As part of support for high-value agriculture, she also announced that the Centre will partner with state governments to promote focused cultivation and post-harvest processing to restore the glory of the Indian sandalwood ecosystem.

“To rejuvenate old, low-yielding orchards and expand high-density cultivation of walnuts, almonds and pine nuts, we will support a dedicated programme to enhance farmer incomes and bring value addition by engaging youth,” she announced.

The finance minister also announced SHE Marts, a new initiative for rural women-led enterprises.

“Building on the success of the Lakhpati Didi Programme, I propose to help women take the next step from credit-led livelihoods to being owners of enterprises. Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) Marts will be set up as community-owned retail outlets within the cluster level federations through enhanced and innovative financing instruments,” she announced.