Impact investments, which aim to generate financial returns while creating measurable social and environmental benefits to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, have attained significant traction in India. J P Morgan estimates that global assets under management through impact investment strategies were ~ $50 billion in 2010, with projections of between $400 billion and $1 trillion and profit opportunity of between $183 billion and $667 billion over the next decade.1 The Rockefeller Foundation reports that impact investing is set to grow at an annual pace of 30 percent. India is the second-largest market for impact investing after the US, with USD 500 million worth of investments made in 2012 alone.2 However according to the Planning Commission of India, though many global and local funds have presence in the country, investments to the tune of only Rs 1,200 crore (around $260 million) have been made in India in the last five years.3 Despite the discrepancy in terms of the total investment numbers reported, India is definitely one of the key markets in the impact investing landscape – given the enormous requirement, potential and opportunities across sectors, which requires market-based solutions to address many social situations. The literature on this topic and research on the Indian industry has, however, been quite limited so far.
File Name: impact-investments-in-india