Nilam

Shravastiश्रावस्ती

11.2 lakh people. Larger than Fiji, Cyprus, or Bhutan. Governed as one cell of one state.

Population
11,17,361 (11.2 lakh)
Area
1,126 km²
Headquarters
Bhinga
ODOP: Tribal craft and Furniture
Tribal CraftsFurnitureBuddhist PilgrimagePaddy Farming

₹1,127 cr

of bankable business potential identified by the government in Shravasti.

Source: NABARD PLP 2023-24

1 ready-to-build opportunity

Opportunities

What you can build here

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Shravasti Buddhist-circuit pilgrim stay and tours

Unverified

Run a small pilgrim guesthouse and guided-tour service at Shravasti's Jetavana Buddhist site for the international and domestic circuit flow, capturing overnight and experience spend that day-pilgrims leave outside one of India's poorest districts.

Capex
₹12–28 lakh
Payback
2.5 years payback
Risk
Moderate
Tourism-SubsidyMUDRA

NABARD's plan for Shravasti · PLP 2023-24

₹1,127 crof bankable credit potential identified by the government

Crop production, maintenance & marketing

₹803 cr

Term loans for agriculture & allied activities

₹163 cr

MSME

₹86 cr

Agriculture infrastructure

₹18 cr

Shravasti's 2023-24 credit plan sizes total priority-sector potential at Rs 1126.80 crore, up 5.65% on last year. The plan is overwhelmingly farm-led: agriculture accounts for Rs 987.74 crore (about 88%), while MSME is a distant second at Rs 86.23 crore. Everything else - housing (Rs 15.20 cr), education (Rs 12.75 cr), informal credit (Rs 9.50 cr), social infrastructure (Rs 8.61 cr) and renewable energy (Rs 6.78 cr) - is small; there is no export credit.

The biggest opportunity is plain crop finance at Rs 802.90 crore for paddy, maize, bajra, sugarcane and arhar in kharif and mustard, wheat, pea and gram in rabi. Beyond crops, the strongest lending clusters are farm mechanisation (Rs 41.15 cr), dairy (Rs 29.21 cr), plantation, horticulture and sericulture (Rs 27.61 cr), poultry (Rs 23.42 cr) and sheep/goat/piggery (Rs 16.02 cr). On the enterprise side, MSME term loans of Rs 82.45 crore are flagged as the district's main job-creation route, backed by a 13-bank, 75-branch network. The district also has an agro-processing base of 975 grain-milling units.

The plan's own warning list: shortages of good seed, fertiliser, veterinary services and power; heavy monsoon dependence despite low 344 mm rainfall; very low literacy (34.7% for women); tiny fragmented holdings (93% under 2 hectares); and a recent Rs 11.73 crore drop in priority-sector lending.

See the plan's recommendations

What the plan promotes

  • Crop credit is the dominant opportunity at Rs 802.90 cr; kharif staples are paddy, bajra, maize, sugarcane and arhar, with mustard/sarson, wheat, pea and gram in rabi across 506 villages and 5 development blocks.
  • Farm mechanisation shows the largest term-loan potential at Rs 41.15 cr, followed by dairy at Rs 29.21 cr - livestock is a major secondary activity for a big share of the population.
  • Plantation & horticulture including sericulture (reshampalan) offers Rs 27.61 cr of term-loan potential.
  • Poultry Rs 23.42 cr and sheep/goat/piggery Rs 16.02 cr, alongside integrated fishery with poultry, are highlighted as strong livestock lending avenues.
  • MSME term lending at Rs 82.45 cr (of Rs 86.23 cr total) is called out as the district's key job-creation route, served by a 13-bank / 75-branch network.
  • Water-resource development (minor irrigation) at Rs 13.35 cr - reviving government tube wells and better use of available surface water to cut monsoon dependence (annual rainfall averages only 344 mm).

Gaps the plan names

  • Main development bottleneck is unavailability of essential inputs - quality/improved seed, fertiliser, veterinary services and reliable power supply.
  • Despite adequate irrigation sources, farming remains monsoon-dependent; low and erratic rainfall (average 344 mm) needs government tube-well revival, better electricity supply and surface-water use.
  • Low literacy (46.70% overall; female literacy just 34.70%, well below state average) and high poverty constrain the skilled-worker base and enterprise formation.
  • Priority-sector credit flow actually fell by Rs 11.73 cr in FY 2021-22 versus 2020-21 as the economy recovered from COVID-19 - a negative signal for the district.
  • Continued fragmentation of holdings (about 92% of farmers are small/marginal; 92.9% of holdings are under 2 hectares) limits investment capacity.

Value-chain gaps

Money this district loses today

Raw output sold cheap, value added elsewhere — each gap below is an opening for a local business.

Rice: raw paddy → milled & branded Terai rice

Unverified
Raw 90%Processed 10%

Shravasti's Terai paddy is sold to traders and mills at MSP/commodity rates, with milling, grading and branding value captured downstream. Local milling, sorting and branding of district rice keeps the value-added margin in one of India's poorest districts rather than with distant millers. Even a modest cooperative mill converts low-margin paddy into a branded retail product.

Tribal craft & furniture: raw woodwork → branded finished products

Unverified
Raw 85%Processed 15%

Shravasti's tribal craft and furniture makers (ODOP) sell semi-finished and unbranded woodwork to traders who add finishing, branding and retail markup downstream. Finished, design-led furniture and craft products under a district or fair-trade label — sold to the Buddhist-pilgrimage tourist circuit and online — capture several times the unfinished-piece price. In one of India's most backward districts, this branding and finishing stage is a direct income opening.

Growth signal

Demand for fair-trade and artisanal handcrafted goods is growing steadily in Indian and export markets.

Resources

What this district has

Tap a category to see the facts and figures underneath. Numbers marked unverified are AI-extracted and need a sourcing pass.

Agriculture & natural resources

1 fact

Skills & labour

1 fact

Tourism

1 fact

About Shravasti

Shravasti district is one of the districts of the Uttar Pradesh state of India, with Bhinga town as its district headquarters. Shravasti district is a part of Devipatan Division. According to Government of India, it is among the 121 minority concentrated districts in India. It is the fourth most backward district in India, according to the 2018 Niti Aayog ranking. It is the most poverty-stricken district in the country.

Source: Wikipedia — Shravasti district

Uttar Pradesh

Shravasti

See Shravasti elsewhere

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