Citi India just announced the launch of the second edition of the India Innovation Grant Program, aimed at employing innovative approaches to accelerating and deepening financial inclusion among low-income populations in India.
The 2015 India Innovation Grant Program makes available upto INR 125 million (Approx.Rs.12 crores) for innovative financial inclusion programs. This is in line with the government’s agenda to create opportunities to inculcate a habit of savings and demonstrates Citi’s commitment to helping strengthen India’s social security framework.
Of particular interest are programs that :
- Use technology and innovative approaches to expand delivery and lower the costs of serving more low income people.
- Integrate the delivery of financial education into other social systems such as education and healthcare.
- Improve access to finance with integrated financial capability services.
- Prepare young people for and connect them to economic opportunities.
- Focus on urban low-income population.
- Promote scale and thought leadership.
- Produce positive, measurable financial behavior change and the accumulation and preservation of financial assets for low-income populations.
The inaugural Citi Foundation India Innovation Grant Program in 2014 awarded grants to seven innovative programs from NGOs including the American India Foundation Trust, Grameen Foundation, MelJol, Navya Disha Foundation, Parinaam Foundation, Pratham Education Foundation and Swadhaar FinAccess.
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The programs initiated earlier this year, aim to benefit more than 580,000 individuals in improving consumer financial decision making while utilizing technology, lowering the cost of delivery and enhancing impact. Of particular note is each organization’s focused efforts at attaining scale.
This in continuity of Citi Foundations developmental efforts since 1999, having supported more than 35 non-profit organizations, benefiting an estimated 2.5 million individuals across India, to date.
[divider][/divider]The 2015 partners are being currently shortlisted and the names would be announced in the first week of January 2016.
[divider][/divider]For more details : www.citi.co.in/iigp.htm
