Where women build, economies rise: M3M India’s livelihood push

Our vision is not to support women as recipients of aid, but to help them emerge as economic stakeholders,” says Pankaj Bansal, Director, M3M India.

In today’s India, where economic growth is increasingly being measured by its inclusivity, one question defines real progress: who gets to lead it? For a country eyeing a $5-trillion economy, the role of women as economic drivers is no longer just a moral imperative—it’s a strategic necessity.

Yet in semi-urban and rural India, opportunity often halts at the doorstep of skilling. Not due to lack of ambition, but due to a vacuum in access, infrastructure, and market connectivity.

That’s the gap M3M India, India’s largest non-listed real estate developer is bridging through its philanthropic arm, M3M Foundation. Led by Ms. Payal Kanodia, Trustee and chairperson, Foundation, the organisation is crafting a development model that integrates skill-building with dignity, income, and long-term transformation.

Its flagship skilling initiative, Kaushal Sambal, is at the heart of this shift—an effort that goes beyond training to foster entrepreneurship at the grassroots.

A standout example is Lala Ji Ki Rasoi, a decentralised network of community kitchens, operated and owned by women trained under Kaushal Sambal. The pilot kitchen in Bajghera, Haryana, is the first of 100 such units M3M Foundation plans to establish across north India by 2028.