Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

30-March-2012 17:21 IST

Bridging Service Gap for Marginalized

The National Innovation Council is establishing the India Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF), as a means of financing ‘inclusive innovation’. The IIIF will be a venture capital fund, backing innovation focused on the developmental needs of India’s ‘bottom 500 million’ citizens – in key developmental sectors where many Indian citizens lack access to basic services, like education, health, energy, agriculture, water, sanitation, and so on. In doing so, the IIIF will generate both social and commercial returns.

The IIIF will receive seed investment from the Government of India and remaining capital from other sources (such as public and private sector organizations, development agencies, etc.). At no point would Government investment exceed 20 per cent of the total IIIF corpus. The IIIF is aiming for a first close at Rs. 500 crore. Additional scale-up of the IIIF will depend on how it is able to receive support by institutions in the public and private sector.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

SS/SL

Inclusive innovation fund to finance essential services for marginalized groups, combining public seed capital with private funding under an investment cap. The India Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF) is a venture capital fund to finance innovations that expand access to basic services for low-income populations across sectors like education, health, energy, agriculture, water, and sanitation. It will be seeded by the Government of India, raise remaining capital from public and private organizations and development agencies, and operate under a government investment cap limiting government contribution to 20 per cent of the fund; the IIIF aims for an initial first close with subsequent scale-up dependent on institutional support.