INDIACSR News Network
MUMBAI: Subrata Mukherji, President, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI Foundation) today signed the Millennium Alliance (MA) Charter along with the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the ICCO Cooperation and the initiating partners – United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Technology Development Board (TDB), Govt. of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). The signing of the Charter establishes ICICI Foundation, DFID and ICCO Cooperations’ commitment to bring in additional resources, financial and non-financial, to support game changing innovations that deliver maximum development impact for the bottom of the pyramid populations in India and across the developing world.
Launched in July 2012, jointly by TDB, USAID and FICCI, the MA aims to recognise India’s role as a global innovation laboratory by identifying, testing and scaling solutions that leverage private and public sector resources and expertise to reduce the cost and increase the reach of development innovations in India and around the world.
The MA is a partnership to stimulate and facilitate financial contributions from private and public sector founders and stakeholders and offer support to competitively selected applicants through a range of vehicles appropriate to the funding sources, such as grants, loans, equity investments and credit enhancements.
The MA funding shall be made into the sectors of basic education, child and maternal health, family planning and reproductive health, agriculture/food security, clean energy/climate change and water & sanitation.
Joining as Program Partners, DFID will contribute up to £2,000,000 over the next two years, which shall be primarily used to award select projects in agriculture-food security and health sectors which will be applicable in India and around the world. ICCO Cooperation has committed USD 525,000 over a period of five years towards agriculture-food security, clean energy, climate change and education sectors. ICICI Foundation is committing up to ` 55,000,000 towards grant and loan support to select India-focused projects chosen from applicants to the MA program, in accordance with prior specifications.
In its recently concluded Round 1, the MA received an overwhelming response. A total of 1436 Letters of Interest (LOIs) were filed to the program as a result of the 56 pan India roadshows conducted by FICCI in Tier I, II and III cities. Subsequently, through a highly competitive screening and evaluation process, a total of nine awardees were selected for a total grant funding of Rs. 84,700,390.
The Alliance is currently soliciting Letters of Interest for Round 2.
