Sahaj Retail to double its footprint to 6 lakh centres
, which provided access of e-commerce and essential services including government schemes,
financial inclusion
, utility payments, and
digital literacy
through its network, plans to nearly double its footprint by scaling up its
rural service centres
from 3.2 lakh to 6 lakh in the coming months.
The expansion aims to strengthen digital delivery of services such as
Aadhaar updates
,
PAN issuance
, insurance, utility payments, and banking in villages across the country.
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'We are working across rural India and have around 3.2 lakh centres at present. The idea is to take it up to 6 lakh shortly,' said Biswajeet Chatterjee, CEO of Sahaj Retail.
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The company operates through
Village Level Entrepreneurs
(VLEs) who are trained to offer digital services to underserved communities. These include doorstep access to e-governance schemes, digital payments, and mobile-based banking.
'Owner of every centre is different and the person running each Sahaj centre becomes a change-maker in their village,' Biswajeet said.
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Sahaj's operations are backed by a proprietary tech stack designed to function even in low-bandwidth environments, making it ideal for remote geographies.
The company is looking to expand its presence in
e-commerce facilitation
, agri-inputs, rural supply chains and skilling, with the aim of making each Sahaj outlet a one-stop digital utility hub.
Currently, Sahaj is active in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, North East and Odisha, and intends to deepen its footprint across central and eastern India.
The company sees women entrepreneurs and youth as the key drivers of its future growth. Its VLE model offers self-employment opportunities and helps in spreading digital and financial literacy.
'Infrastructure, digital awareness, and trust-building still require sustained effort in rural areas. But our model has shown that it is possible to drive impact at scale,' Biswajeet said.
Sahaj is part of a growing number of platforms targeting India's underserved Bharat market—a segment that is emerging as a major growth engine for digital services.
Last month, Sahaj tied-up with
Techno India Group
to launch a
blue-collar skilling initiative
aimed at training one lakh youth in rural and semi-urban areas.
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