Self-help groups (SHGs) are an increasingly popular strategy to promote women's livelihoods and empowerment and improve women's long-term economic outcomes in South Asia, especially in India. This study estimates the return on investment (ROI) of a large-scale SHG program (JEEViKA) in the state of Bihar, India, operated by the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). To estimate the cost-effectiveness of the program, we estimated three ROIs – (1) Early phase ROI; (2) Late phase ROI; and (3) Full ROI. We find that 1 INR invested in the program increased consumption by 0.75 INR under the most conservative assumption, and by 4.9 INR under the least conservative assumption. Our estimation also indicates that the most conservative assumption can be reasonably ruled out because it does not align with the observed outcomes. In other words, we can reasonably but cautiously conclude that the program had a positive ROI after seven years.

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