Project Shakti was launched by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) in 2000 to boost sales in rural India and provide income opportunities for women. It trains rural women as direct-to-home sales agents for HUL products. Over 12,000 women entrepreneurs have been trained to date. The project aims to reach 100 million rural consumers by 2006 and scale up the number of women entrepreneurs to 25,000. It helps HUL penetrate untapped rural markets while empowering women economically.