The tool under the India2022 Coalition Aims at unlocking market potential in Rural India through multi-sectoral investments and solutions
SoD can reduce the lab-to-market journey for social impact startups and help donors and investors to ensure their investments have maximum impact
Bengaluru, NFAPost: Shell and Tata Trusts, under the India2022 Coalition, powered by Xynteo, launched the “Stages of Development (SoD) Framework’, a data-driven tool that aids start-ups, philanthropists and investors working in the rural development space to make informed decisions, identify relevant solutions and maximise social impact through an integrated, collaborative approach.
NITI Aayog Atal Innovation Mission Director Ramanan Ramanathan launched the SoD Framework and said thee is a need to convert a nation of challenges into a nation of opportunities and innovation.
“India is working towards becoming a nation of innovators and job creators so that the farthest reaches of the country benefit. The Stages of Development (SoD) Framework is a unique tool that can help emerging startups and innovators to deliver solutions to the challenges and transform them into a million opportunities for development in rural India,” said NITI Aayog Atal Innovation Mission Director Ramanan Ramanathan.
Data-driven planning
The (SoD) framework: https://ruralcollaboration.in/ is a data-driven planning framework that reduces the lab to market journey for start-ups and helps them identify partnerships that will aid in integrated rural development.
A tool for donors, philanthropists, and investors to design rural development programs and allocate funding and investments for maximum impact and social returns.
According to the SoD Framework, a village is classified based on its performance against the socio-economic development indicators, into one of the four categories: Underserved, Nascent, Advancing and Rurban. Based on the stage in which the target village/area lies, the framework puts forth solutions and delivery models best suited to the target area, as well as synergies amongst the eight core sectors: Agriculture and livelihoods; water and sanitation; healthcare and nutrition; energy; finance; education and skill development; communication and digital inclusion; people and goods movement.
The Framework has been developed by Shell and Tata Trusts under the India2022 Coalition, set up by Xynteo. This multi-stakeholder partnership has been created in line with/keeping in mind the UN Sustainable Development Goals and supporting the Government of India’s strategic priorities.
Affordable energy
Commenting on the new initiative, Shell Companies India Chairman Nitin Prasad highlighted that access to reliable and affordable energy is critical to help unlock development across multiple sectors in rural India.
“Similarly, access to finance, both for consumers and enterprises, can increase the uptake of several interventions, across different sectors. We are proud to be part of this collaboration with an aim to ensure that decentralised, fit-for-purpose and low carbon energy solutions are made available to all rural households and rural enterprises,” said Shell Companies India Chairman Nitin Prasad.
Tata Trusts and Executive Director Head – Central and East North Zone and Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives Ganesh Neelam highlighted that rural and tribal villages need an overall development approach to make them resilient.
“The framework allows matching of needs of communities with appropriate interventions, based on a cross-sector approach, from all required stakeholders. We are happy to have contributed in the development of this framework basis Tata Trusts’ extensive understanding of the sector and hope it helps align stakeholders towards a common goal for the good of the community-at-large,” said Ganesh Neelam.
Rural market
The SoD framework could potentially be used by any stakeholder interested in understanding rural market needs and viable solutions. The major users and their potential objectives of using the SoD are outlined below:
- Private sector solution providers: Weigh various solutions required by the rural community. identify feasible delivery models; and find synergies with other solution providers. Includes start-ups, large sector players, and conglomerates
- Local Non-Profits/NGOs: Assess the interventions/solutions required at a rural community level and prioritise grant-based and market-based interventions
- Government bodies: Get better insights into the current state of economic development and the immediate socio-economic development needs of the rural area
- Social Enterprises: Identify the set of villages, where the product-market fit would work best for their solution and equally importantly, help in identifying criteria and reasons for not entering a particular rural area
- Philanthropy: Align with other stakeholders on the socio-economic need for the development of a village. This tool will allow them to use their philanthropic capital to leverage and unlock private capital, so that more beneficiaries can be positively impacted
Expressing happiness over the new platfrom, Xynteo Founder and CEO Osvald Bjelland said the post Covid-19 world will be known as the Era of Collaboration.
“An era in which the private sector moved towards enabling social and environmental impact; NGOs adopted systemic interventions and embraced commercial partnerships; social enterprises and innovators moved beyond pilots towards commercially scalable models; and governments created enabling environments for all stakeholders,” said Xynteo Founder and CEO Osvald Bjelland.
Retail presence
Shell is one of the most diversified international energy company in India with over 8500 employees and presence across upstream, integrated gas, downstream, renewable energy, and deep capabilities in R&D, digitalisation and business operations.
With a retail presence across six states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam Shell is expanding its network of fuel stations across the country. It has the entire Lubricants end-to-end value chain in India, from conceptualization and development, to production and distribution.
Since inception in 1892, Tata Trusts, India’s oldest philanthropic organisation, has played a pioneering role in bringing about an enduring difference in the lives of the communities it serves.
Guided by the principles and the vision of proactive philanthropy of the Founder, Jamsetji Tata, the Trusts’ purpose is to catalyse development in the areas of health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihood, digital transformation, migration and urban habitat, social justice and inclusion, environment and energy, skill development, sports, and arts and culture.
Grant making
The Trusts’ programmes, achieved through direct implementation, partnerships and grant making, are marked by innovations, relevant to the country. For more information, please visit http://tatatrusts.org/
Xynteo works with a community of visionary business leaders, equipping them and their organisations to transform the systems in which they operate. Xynteo provides advisory services for strategy, innovation, engagement, learning; and build cross-sector collaborations, including the Xynteo Exchange, Leadership Vanguard, India2022 and Europe Delivers. Xynteo also produces The Performance Theatre.
India2022, powered by Xynteo, is a business-led coalition launched in 2017, with the support of its founding partners – Hindalco, an Aditya Birla Group Company; Cyient; Hindustan Unilever Limited; Shell and TechnipFMC.
Since the launch, three new partners — Tata Trusts, State Bank of India and WPP — have joined the coalition, which aims to leverage the power of collaboration to unlock a new kind of growth in India. The India2022 coalition focuses on four thematic areas – Sustainable Mining, Waste to Value, Healthcare and Energise. Impact tracks are supported by cross-cutting verticals focused on Funding for Impact and Shared Narrative Development.
