Shell, Tata Trusts join hands to help start-ups, philanthropists, investors work for rural development

Energy major Shell and Tata Trusts, under the India2022 Coalition, powered by Xynteo, on Monday launched the ‘Stages of Development (SoD) Framework’, a data-driven tool that will aid start-ups, philanthropists and investors working in the rural development space. This tool is intended to make informed decisions, identify relevant solutions and maximise social impact through an integrated, collaborative approach.

India2022, powered by Xynteo, is a business-led coalition launched with support from corporate giants such as Hindalco, Hindustan Unilever, and Shell, along with Tata Trusts and State Bank of India, which aims to leverage the power of collaboration to unlock a new kind of growth in the country. Norway-based Xynteo operates in the social development sector. It works with business leaders focusing on environmentally-sustainable business development.

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CEO and Founder of Xynteo, Osvald Bjelland, in a telephonic interaction with BusinessLine said that as the world is entering into the most defining decade in human history, the economic growth model, which has produced enormous growth around the world is not working. So, growth needs to be reinvented. Xynteo realized that many of our problems are too enormous to be solved by any one organisation; therefore, there is a need for cooperation for social development in villages.

However large an organisation may be, the process of energy transition to greener energy and sustainable transport cannot be solved individually. Therefore, a framework has been launched by Xynteo, along with Tata Trust and Shell, that will look at the strategic approaches for correct intervention for village-level development in India, Bjelland said.

Xynteo in a media statement said that the framework could potentially be used by any stakeholder interested in understanding the needs of rural markets and come up with viable solutions. Private sector solution providers could weigh various solutions required by the rural community and identify feasible delivery models.

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They could also find synergies with other solution providers. NGOs could assess the solutions required at a rural community level and prioritise grant-based and market-based interventions. Government bodies could get better insights into the current state of economic development and the immediate socio-economic development needs of the rural areas, the statement said.

Chairman of Shell India, Nitin Prasad, said that the framework will be used for identifying and characterising villages from an ecological point of view. It will also look at a particular category of villages and possible intervention required. The data-driven tool can be accessed from an open platform and is freely available on a website.

GaneshN eelam, Head-Central Zone & Energy Portfolio Tata Trusts, said that the framework has been locally evolved; it is not imported from another country. It is based on learnings from Indian rural and tribal communities. The framework is a drive to bring financial inclusion and energy access, which can be dovetailed into a village ecosystem.

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