Leading Indian Businesses Unite to Launch Social : India sets a platform for large corporations to create their own social businesses
Yunus Centre Press Release (November 18, 2016):
Yunus Social Business, India, Indian wing of Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus’ global social business promotion organization, and Tata Trusts jointly launched an initiative named as "Indian Corporate Action Tank", (ICAT), in Mumbai on November 18, 2016, an initiative to create corporate social businesses – addressing important social issues like nutrition, healthcare, sanitation, housing and other issues and driving innovation for the poor. The ICAT will be India’s first platform for large corporations to create in-house corporate social businesses that leverage their core business skills to address social problems in a financially sustainable way. The ICAT will build on the practitioner led experiences, knowledge and on-ground presence of its iconic founding organizations.
The companies that have so far publicly announced to have joined the Indian Corporate Action Tank are Tata Trust, Tata Steel, RPG Group, Danone India. Another ten companies have signed up and waiting to complete their organizational procedures before they can announce their participation in this collective initiative.
Speaking on the partnership, Professor Muhammad Yunus said “Corporate Action Tank, India, is an exciting idea, it is the beginning of an entirely new business ecosystem. Personal-profit-centric businesses can create social businesses to solve human problems -- that is the message of this initiative . A group of top Indian corporates are joining hands not to discuss about the necessity of getting businesses to pay attention to the social problems around them, but to roll up their sleeves for getting busy with the actual problem-solving through social business methodology. This is a historical moment for India, and also for the whole world. I wish a big success for the Action Tank India."
Speaking at the event, Ganesh Neelam, Head of Innovation, Tata Trusts, said, “At Tata Trusts, we believe that focused, innovative and replicable interventions in close coordination with the community are the future of sustainable development. With an increased corporate focus on creating impact on ground, the Indian Corporate Action Tank will act as a spring-board to create social businesses that will enhance the quality of life of the underserved communities.”
Tata Trusts aims to drive the corporates participating in the Indian Corporate Action Tank towards working on social challenges that will ensure significant impact on the society. Tata Trusts will also provide guidance to these social businesses in terms of understanding the challenges on ground and provide its strong community connect towards piloting them and ultimately scaling up the businesses in close coordination with community institutions.
The Corporate Action Tank will take a cohort of diverse corporates through structured ideation to develop individual and joint social business ideas and then help undertake actual pilot projects on the ground. The platform has been co-designed by the founding partners assisted by Boston Consulting Group.
Formal launching of the Corporate Action Tank took place in the presence of Finance Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Sudhir Mungatiwar and State Minister for Planning of Maharashtra, Mr. Deepak Vasant Kesarkar, CEOs and senior officials of leading corporations of India during the India Social Business Forum. Professor Yunus, who was the chief guest at the Forum, gave the key note speech. The Forum was attended by participants from many states of India. Other companies present for the launch were Sodexo India, Mahindra, UTV Group, RPG Enterprises, Apollo, Wockhardt, and representatives from several Tata companies.
The ministers along with Professor Yunus also launched a new Social Business Fund in Bangaluru funded by Vinatha Reddy from her family foundation. Ms Reddy is also the founder of the leading Indian microfinance bank Grameen Koota. The Fund is named as "Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru" with an initial capital of US$ 2.5 million. This Fund will invest into social businesses in Karnataka and the neighboring states. First Yunus Social Business Fund was established in 2009 in Mumbai by Mr Shelgikar with his personal fund of one million dollars. This has created a number of successful social businesses in Mumbai.
Professor Yunus was a key note speaker at the annual Philanthropy Forum organized by Azim Premji, Chairperson WIPRO and Mr Jamshed Godrej, together with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Professor Yunus appeared at "Tata Lit Live", leading literature festival in Mumbai at the National Centre for Performing Arts, on a special panel with P. Chidambaram, former Union Minister of Finance on the topic of "Banking for the Bottom Billion".
Professor Yunus attended a breakfast meeting with CEOs of top Indian companies and spoke on the danger of wealth concentration, and need for directing the young people to become entrepreneurs rather than job-hunters.
On second day, November 19, Professor Yunus addressed the CEOs of ten Tata companies in an exclusive meeting organised by Tata Group. He briefed the CEOs on the necessity of creating social businesses by all conventional businesses to save the economy and the society from ever-increasing problems of low income, healthcare, old age, unemployment, and global warming. The lecture was followed by open discussion among the participants.
About Tata Trusts:
Tata Trusts is amongst India's oldest, non-sectarian philanthropic organizations that work in several areas of community development. Since its inception, Tata Trusts has played a pioneering role in transforming traditional ideas of philanthropy to make impactful sustainable change in the lives of the communities served. Through direct implementation, co-partnership strategies and grant making, the Trusts support and drive innovation in the areas of education; healthcare and nutrition; rural livelihoods; natural resources management; enhancing civil society and governance and media, arts, crafts and culture. Tata Trusts continues to be guided by the principles of its Founder, Jamsetji Tata, and through his vision of proactive philanthropy, the Trusts catalyses societal development while ensuring that initiatives and interventions have a contemporary relevance to the nation. For more information, please visit: http://www.tatatrusts.org/
About YSB India
Founded in 2011, Yunus Social Business India is part of a Yunus Social Business Global, founded in Germany, in 2011 A network of non profit venture funds and corporate action tanks co-founded by Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus. YSB Global operates in 7 regions- Colombia, Brazil, Haiti, he Balkans, Tunisia, Uganda and India where it helps support social business creators through financial and non financial support. As of 2016, YSB has expanded to developing platform called corporate action tanks to support the corporates.
Photo Caption 1: Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus with the CEOs of Tata companies after an exclusive meeting convened to meet him to discuss how the Tata companies including Water, Power, Steel, among others can get involved in creating social businesses through each company.
Photo Caption 2: Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus with Sudhir Mungantiwar Finance Minister of Maharashtra and State Minister of Planning for the State of Maharashtra Deepak Vasant Kesarkar at the Indian Social Business Forum, held in Mumbai on November 18 at Taj Hotel.
Photo Caption 3: Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus with Sudhir Muganiwatar, Finance Minister for Maharashtra, launch the Indian Corporate Action Tank, a platform to engage top Indian companies to create indvidual and joint-venture social businesses to tackle social problems.
Source: Yunus Centre
Updated Date: 23rd January, 2017