India to Launch $1 bln Fund to Invest in Ideas to Uplift Poor

The government plans to launch a $1 billion fund by June-July, with an initial capital of 5 billion rupees, to invest in ideas that will generate services and products to uplift the poor, a top government official told reporters on Monday.

A homeless woman prepares bread on a footpath as a child looks on in Ahmedabad.

We are launching a billion dollar fund on innovation... We need to provide money to those who have ideas but no seed capital, Sam Pitroda, adviser to prime minister on public information, infrastructure and innovation, said on the sidelines of Grid Week Asia Summit.

The fund, India Inclusive Innovation Fund, will invest in sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and healthcare.