00:00Distinguished guests, philanthropists, policy makers, leaders from various foundations, corporate
00:11and social entrepreneurs, my dear friend Naina Batra, the entire AVPN network from across
00:21the globe. Good evening and a very warm welcome to New Delhi, India.
00:36It is a true privilege for me to be with the AVPN members once again. Last year, when I
00:46had the honor of addressing you in Hong Kong, we spoke, we spoke about the emerging promise
00:55of Asian leadership in philanthropy. I am absolutely delighted that today that promise has traveled
01:06to my home country, to India for the very first time.
01:13It is our great pleasure to host this networking dinner. And on behalf of the Adani Foundation,
01:21I extend a very warm welcome to each one of you today. Many of you have traveled long distances
01:32and across time zones. So we are deeply grateful that you have chosen to spend this evening with us
01:43in the pursuit of a shared purpose. My dear friends, tonight is about something fundamental.
01:56Long before partnerships are formalized, ideas are scaled or capital is deployed, there is the simple
02:09transformative power of human connection. Before we are delegates, development professionals
02:18or decision makers. We are people who deeply care about fellow human beings. We deeply care about the future
02:35of our shared world. It is profoundly fitting that we are at the iconic Bharat Mandapam,
02:45a venue that honors India's timeless cultural heritage, while symbolizing her progressive aspirations.
02:57For decades, the global conversations about India has focused mostly on the size of her needs.
03:09That lens is outdated. Today's India must be seen and understood through the scale of our ambition,
03:22the speed of our transformation, and the energy of our people. Today's India is a nation united by the vision
03:34of
03:35Viksit Bharat 2047. Our collective commitment to become a developed nation by the centenary of our independence.
03:48In today's India, technology is already democratizing dignity and we are building solutions at scale.
04:00Our development journey is also becoming increasingly self-reliant. India's annual social sector funding has reached over $310 billion and
04:16it is growing at a 13% compound rate annually.
04:21And also, this is Atma nirbhar development, a self-reliant ecosystem in which India's growth story is written by Indians
04:35and for Indians.
04:37So, what really is fueling this national transformation?
04:47In my view, the most significant roles are being played by Grassroot Entrepreneurship,
04:58Relentless Skill Development and Local Innovation.
05:05By investing in our youth, women and local creators, we are doing more than just solving
05:16local challenges.
05:18We are creating models for the Global South.
05:24India is now home to over 200,000 recognised start-ups.
05:31But remarkably, the majority of these are not in our big cities or financial centres.
05:40They are spread across our small towns, our villages.
05:46Unlike earlier, innovation is no longer concentrated in few centres.
05:52It has been democratised across the country.
05:58From metros to mandis, from campuses to small towns, India is now innovating everywhere.
06:09Whether it is a waste management problem or a climate change issue, be it safe drinking
06:17water or affordable healthcare, better agricultural practices or innovation up to the last mile,
06:28Indian start-ups are working to solve the nation's problems, big and small.
06:38Earlier this month, I saw first-hand an amazing example of this national drive.
06:45When my husband, the chairman of Adani Group launched a nationwide hunt called Vande Bharatam to identify innovative
06:59ideas for India, more than 26,000 start-ups applied.
07:07What impressed me and Gautam even more was that these start-ups were designing solutions to create social and environmental
07:19impact.
07:22Embedded in their innovative ideas was a foundational layer of national consciousness, social empathy and responsibility towards the country.
07:36When we step back to look at the larger picture, another question arises, globally, where do we all stand today?
07:49We all are now at a strange juncture in human history.
07:55No doubt, there has been significant progress in the human development indicators, but, but on the other side, we are
08:07watching, we are watching the climate system destabilize in real time.
08:14We are watching a generational leap in artificial intelligence unfold with breathtaking speed.
08:25This still maturing technology can compress decades of progress into years or just as easily deepen the gap between those
08:41who have access and those who do not.
08:45We are watching the harmful effects of the overuse of social media and technology on children and adults with an
08:56alarming rise in burnouts, depressions and suicides.
09:02This is the paradox of our time.
09:09Unprecedented capability, unprecedented capital, and yet unprecedented fragmentation in how we choose to use them.
09:21My dear friends, Asia is home to extraordinary diversity, different cultures, different languages, different economic frameworks, and different developmental stages.
09:40Yet, across every border, we are bound by shared human inspirations.
09:49I am sure the scenario of innovation and ambition in India resonates in other Asian countries as well.
10:00None of us is in this room here today because philanthropy is absent in Asia.
10:10We are all here because we have something to learn from each other.
10:18We recognize that collaboration is not limited to resources or funding.
10:28Collaboration becomes more powerful when knowledge, ambitions, and experiences are shared.
10:40When we met in Hong Kong last year, I urged us to build a unified collaboration platform.
10:51Tonight, here in New Delhi, I urge you to build upon that spirit.
10:58I urge you to build upon that spirit and transform how we fund.
11:09Friends, with domestic giving and social capital at historic highs, our challenge is not scarcity of funds.
11:21It is a challenge of strategic allocation.
11:27And to address that challenge, let us come together.
11:32Let us now shift our collective focus towards capital for capacity.
11:41I urge this incredible group of philanthropists to pause and reflect on the purpose of funding and its impact.
11:56While funding for survival is certainly important, the need of the hour is to shift to sustainable impact.
12:06Funding for behavior change, funding for institution building, for imparting skills, for innovation, for climate change, for improving societal interconnect.
12:25This is the shift I see defining the next era of giving.
12:32My dear friends,
12:352026 is a milestone year for me and also my entire family at the Adani Foundation.
12:43This year, we completed 30 years of walking alongside India's communities.
12:52Over the past three decades, we have had the humble privilege of touching the lives of two generations.
13:03And our work has organically evolved into a comprehensive lifecycle approach.
13:11Caring for maternal and newborn health.
13:15Strengthening foundational primary education.
13:19Training over 200,000 youth with market-ready skills.
13:23Nurturing sustainable agricultural and non-agricultural livelihoods.
13:31Supporting persons with disabilities.
13:34Delivering health care through rural clinics, hospitals and mobile health care units.
13:41Strengthening community infrastructure, sports and grassroots climate action.
13:48And creating educated, healthy, prosperous and happy villages in India.
14:01If these 30 years on the ground have taught me one indisputable truth, it is this.
14:11Philanthropy is not about changing people's lives.
14:17Philanthropy is not about changing people's lives.
14:21It is about giving them the leverage to change their own.
14:28And I believe that one of the best ways to do this is by strategically allocating capital for capacity.
14:39I have seen this philosophy validated again and again through the Adani Foundation's work.
14:47Let me leave you with one example.
14:51That of Kiran Harinkhede from Churdi village in Maharashtra, a small village in India.
15:00Kiran, she benefited from our livestock development initiative through which we impart guidance for improved breeding and better animal health
15:12care.
15:13Kiran got better breeds of cattle yielding much more milk.
15:19This, in turn, enabled her to be part of a dairy enterprise we constituted, which is run entirely by women,
15:28by the way.
15:30Kiran now sells 25-30 litres every single day to the collection centre and her income increased.
15:40Her income allowed her to send her son to college.
15:46It allowed her to fund her daughter's graduation.
15:53My dear friends, Kiran is not alone.
15:56The Adani Foundation has created thousands of beneficiaries like her, creating a value chain worth over 10 million dollars annually.
16:10My dear friends, 10 days ago, we celebrated India's 80th Independence Day.
16:18For me, this freedom, the economic freedom enjoyed by millions of women like Kiran, is what independence truly means.
16:31The freedom of choice, the freedom of opportunity, and the freedom for upward mobility.
16:44Viksit Bharat will not be built by larger budgets alone.
16:49It will be built by stronger institutions.
16:54It will not be built only by funding more programs.
16:57It will be built by funding the people and systems that will allow impactful programs to endure and scale.
17:08India has the ambition.
17:12Our communities have the ideas.
17:17Our young people have the energy.
17:21Our non-profits have the trust and the reach.
17:26Philanthropy must now provide capacity.
17:31Once again, welcome to India, welcome to Bharat Mandapam, and to the AVPN Global Conference.
17:40I thank you for honoring us with your presence and hope you all have a wonderful evening.
17:47Thank you. Jai Hind.
