CASE Construction Equipment, a part of the Italian, American agricultural machinery company CNH Industrial [BIT: CNHI], has launched LEAD (Livelihood and Entrepreneurship Awareness Development). LEAD is an initiative to encourage entrepreneurship among rural youth in India. The project focuses on subsidiary income generation avenues in the agriculture and infrastructure sectors through awareness and training programs. In the first year, the brand is aiming to impact over 30,000 young aspirants across 3000 plus villages.

In a statement, the company said that the LEAD project is a door-to-door awareness program to educate youth about the entrepreneurial ventures in local regions across India, under agriculture, rural industries (poultry, dairy, beekeeping, and fisheries), and rural infrastructure (road construction initiatives and irrigation). Planned to last until 2024, the initiative focuses on interacting with local youth to stop them from moving to cities in search of jobs and to encourage them to move back.

Sunil Puri, Managing Director, Case Construction-India and SAARC, said, "We firmly believe that rural entrepreneurship is a crucial driver of inclusive economic growth in India. Through Project LEAD, we aim to provide necessary tools and resources to local communities to contribute towards the country’s economic progress. The program will also help aspirational young people from rural India to become self-reliant.”

CASE provides a complete line of construction equipment in the country and claims to be  a market leader in the vibratory compactor segment. It said that the company makes Made-in-India products at its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, for both the Indian market and over 75 export markets.