Mumbai, July 8, 2024: Mrs Sangita Jindal, Chairperson of JSW Foundation, has joined the India Advisory Council of the British Asian Trust.
In this role, she will partner the British Asian Trust in India to champion its cause of driving positive change in India through innovative philanthropic and CSR approaches.
Mrs Jindal is part of a select cadre of Indian Business Leaders who are Advisory Members of the global Trust. The British Asian Trust collaborates with the private sector and the South Asian diaspora to deliver significant outcomes at scale for highly vulnerable communities in India.
Commenting on her appointment to the British Asian Trust’s India Advisory Council, Mrs Jindal said, “India’s journey to become a US$ 7 trillion economy by 2030 calls for managing challenges and opportunities by ensuring equitable access to quality education, healthcare, skilling, and job opportunities, especially for women and children. This requires striking a fine balance between our nation’s development priorities and protecting its bountiful biodiversity. Social financing will play a catalytic role in meeting these developmental objectives. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution in this direction.”
Renowned for its pioneering work in social finance, the Trust has a strong track record and market credibility leveraging outcomes-based financing to tackle some of India’s most critical challenges. In the last six years, the Trust has developed and implemented India’s largest development impact bonds (DIBs) in education, skill development, and employment. Mrs Jindal joins other eminent business and philanthropic leaders on the British Asian Trust’s India Advisory Council.
Bharath Visweswariah, Executive Director - India, at the British Asian Trust said, “We are honoured to have Mrs. Sangita Jindal join our India Advisory Council. She has been a steadfast supporter of innovative ideas for women’s empowerment, demonstrated through her support of our Skill Impact Bond. Mrs. Jindal’s insights and experience will be invaluable to scaling our initiatives in education, livelihoods and gender, that aim to help create a Viksit Bharat.”
JSW Foundation and British Asian Trust have previously partnered to develop the Skill Impact Bond – India’s first and largest impact bond for employment with a focus on bringing more women into the workforce. JSW Foundation is part of a coalition of partners that address the issue of employability and job retention among youth in India.
Mrs Jindal has been a vocal champion of the Skill Impact Bond’s aspirations and achievements. The US$ 14.4 million Skill Impact Bond was launched in 2021 and aims to reach 50,000 young Indians, 60% of whom are women, over four years by equipping them with skills and providing wage employment in sectors including retail, apparel, healthcare, logistics, and others. So far, the transformative programme has reached more than 24,000 youth across 24 states in India, where more than 70% of trainees are women.
JSW Foundation is the social development arm of the USD 23 billion JSW Group, one of India’s leading business houses. JSW Foundation’s focus areas are health and nutrition; education; water, environment and sanitation; waste management; agriculture and allied livelihoods; skills and livelihoods; sports promotion and art, heritage and culture. Through a strong field presence, it operates across 33 locations in 15 states in India.