Tamil Nadu has introduced a fresh set of tender guidelines aimed at breaking up cartelisation among contractors and widening access to government works for young entrepreneurs, women and members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as reported by The Times of India. The rules, titled the 'New Contractor Registration Framework 2026', were released by rural development minister N. Anand on Wednesday. The rural development department, which oversees village panchayats and manages an annual budget of around ₹29,000 crore for civic projects, issued the new guidelines as its final governing framework, replacing two earlier government orders from 2024 and 2025.
Under the new framework, individuals from SC/ST groups will be permitted to bid for rural tenders worth up to ₹10 lakh even without prior experience in contracting, according to the report. Unemployed engineers, women running sole proprietorship firms, and SC and ST groups will be eligible to bid for tenders with a minimum registration deposit of ₹20,000, and will be exempt from income tax and GST. To retain the concession, beneficiaries must submit an unemployment certificate from their district employment office every six months, with the benefit capped at a single, three-year window.
Tenders exceeding ₹2 crore will not require registration under the scheme, with bidders for such projects classified as top-tier contractors, as reported by The Times of India. The framework specifically targets smaller-scale projects that can be accessed by new entrants, while maintaining proper oversight for larger infrastructure works. This tiered approach ensures that the scheme remains accessible to smaller contractors while maintaining appropriate controls for major government projects.
The government has launched SHE-LEAPS (Self-Help Entrepreneur-Livelihoods and Enterprise Application for Prosperity and Sustainability), a comprehensive digital platform designed to empower women associated with Self-Help Groups across the country. Launched on June 29, 2026, during the Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Sammelan in New Delhi, the platform aims to create a unified digital ecosystem for enterprise management, monitoring and growth. The initiative supports both farm-based enterprises including dairy, poultry, fisheries, organic farming and food processing, as well as non-farm enterprises such as handicrafts, tailoring, rural retail businesses, and digital services. SHE-LEAPS will be rolled out nationwide covering all 34 States and Union Territories, with the government planning to release ₹10 lakh crore over the next five years to support women associated with the Lakhpati Didi programme.
