World Bank launches 2013 India Devp Marketplace in Chhattisgarh

      Raipur, February 06, 2013: The World Bank Group today announced the launch of 2013 India Development Marketplace in Chhattisgarh and pledged USD One Million in grants to be awarded on a competitive basis to social enterprises for their development solutions.

     “The 2013 India Development Marketplace has been designed to support social enterprises that demonstrate the potential of fuelling development through innovative solutions”, Team Leader of the World Bank Institute’s Development Marketplace programme, Drew von Glahn told reporters here today.

     “DM as a concept is aimed to address some of the most basic and critical needs of under-served communities, particularly around women in India,” launching the programme Glahn said.

     “Under this programme, we give financial and capacity building resources to social enterprises, which play a pivotal role in their journey of making a difference to society that translates into long-term social impact,” he said.

      Development Marketplace, supported by the World Bank, is a competitive grant-based programme. It focuses on non-profit and for-profit development solutions that demonstrate innovative and effective ways to address the most pressing social and economic problems impacting the poor and underserved communities.

     The selected winners are given financial and advisory support to scale the impact of their work.

     In keeping with the Government of India’s focus on inclusive growth, the 2013 India Development Marketplace Programme would be rolled out in Chhattisgarh and its neighbouring Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh states, Glahn said.

     Each winning organisation would receive a grant ranging from USD 50,000 to USD 100,000 apart from mentoring and capacity building support over a period of 15 months.

     The World Bank would also help the winners in identifying local partners, who would guide them in areas of business planning, financial management and organisational development, the World Bank official said.

     IDM 2012 supported organisations such as Rangsutra provides livelihood opportunities to artisans in rural communities in Rajasthan and has now expanded its reach to over 1000 new artisans.

     Similarly, the Bihar Development Trust has been instrumental in increasing incomes of low income communities by almost 100 per cent, the officials said.

     This year too, the programme endeavours to identify and support solutions that address some of the most pressing needs of under-served communities in India, they added.

      A jury of eminent experts would oversee and evaluate the proposals. Around 15 to 20 proposals would be awarded grants for their winning ideas, the officials said.

      The last date for submission of these proposals is February 20, 2013.

     Application and Proposals for the initiative need to be filed online, they said.

      More details on eligibility and assessment criteria are available on www.dm-india.com.