This kind of active involvement is no coincidence. Today, India is playing an important role in building the global impact investing narrative, while at the same time keeping its own unique investment landscape. According to a report by IIC, despite the global recession and uncertainty, nearly 285 impact enterprises managed to attract USD 2.9 billion worth of investment in India in 2023 alone. These investments directly contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities).
The driving force behind India’s social impact investments in 2023 has been the climate technology sector: 1 out of 3 investments in this field were directed towards a startup. Innovative startups focused on climate change mitigation, such as the production of green hydrogen and smart batteries, received the most funding.
Given the limited public resources, the Indian Government and non-profit organizations are actively working to bring more players into the impact investment sector. Neha Bhatnagar, Vice President, Partnerships & Founding Team Member, India Impact Investors Council and key speaker of the session “G20 and Beyond: Impact Insights from India,” told Positive Changes about how this sphere works and her impressions of the GIIN Impact forum.
Let’s start with the India Impact Investors Council. Please tell us what your organization does.
IIC is a member-based industry body. Its objective is to help build the impact investing eco-system, present a compelling and comprehensive Impact story for India and strengthen impact investing in India. You could say that we are a “one-stop-shop” service for impact investors. The Impact Investors Council has been created with the objective of bringing global impact investors focused on India under the same roof.
India has a compelling impact destination story. We have a single political democratic entity, we offer opportunity for large-scale investments and easy access to data showcasing number of deals and exits, a strong judicial process is in place, there is a vast sectoral play alongside availability of multiple financial instruments. Hence, to enable foreign investments, a catalyst like IIC plays an imperative role in bringing it all together.