Tuesday, July 10, 2012:
The government of India, in association with US Agency for International Development (USAID) industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), launched a joint initiative under “Millennium Alliance” to promote innovation in India and other parts of the world. The “Millennium Alliance” will function in the public-private-partnership mode.
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The USAID and FICCI will contribute $7.7 million each to fund the initiative while the Indian government's Technology Development Board has pledged $5 million. USAID and FICCI target to raise an additional $35 million to the fund the new initiative by mid-2013, bringing the total amount leveraged to at least $50 million, according to a statement issued by the American embassy here.
“The Millennium Alliance will leverage Indian creativity, expertise, and resources to support and scale innovative solutions to development problems that will benefit populations across India and the world,” US Ambassador to India Nancy J. Powell said at the inaugural function.
“The progress both our nations have made in the last six decades is a testament to our strong partnership. We hope to add a new chapter to that partnership, as we work together to confront some of the greatest development challenges of our time,” she addressed.
She said the Alliance will provide innovators with essential resources such as seed funding, business incubation services, networking opportunities, and technical assistance, and will facilitate their access to equity, debt, and other capital.
At the inaugural event, FICCI unveiled the programme website and announced the first call for applications inviting Indian innovators to apply for grant funding to develop and scale their innovations.
Rajiv Kumar, Secretary General, FICCI; Dr. T Ramasami, Secretary, Government of India (GOI) Department of Science and Technology (DST); Saurabh Srivastava, Member, National Innovation Council; and Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission and National Innovation Council, also helped kick off this event for the Alliance.
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