Application Portal for HCLTech India Grant – Edition IX is now LIVE!
Calling all non-profit organizations to register and submit your application for ₹16.5 Cr HCLTech Grant in the categories: environment, health and education.
Started in 2015, the HCL Grant is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitment by HCL, through HCL Foundation, to strengthen and empower NGOs, engage with them, as well as recognize them for their path-breaking work. Currently focused on rural development, the HCL Grant is awarded in three thematic categories, namely Environment, Health and Education. The Grant is designed to support breakthrough award-winning projects to NGOs, that have a proven track record of evident impact, high credibility and distinct ability to deliver. NGOs that reach out to marginalized, isolated, underserved and underdeveloped rural communities in India, and work jointly to achieve sustainable socio-economic development.
The democracy of India rests on three constitutional estates – legislative, bureaucracy and judiciary. The free press or media has long been recognized as the fourth. HCL Grant is a step towards recognition of the rise of the Fifth Estate – the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The Fifth Estate has now become a critical agent of change, playing a decisive role in building a stronger, future-ready India.
- 5 CRORE GRANT EACH, TO 1 HCL GRANT WINNER NGO, IN EACH CATEGORY.
- 25 LAKH GRANT EACH, TO REMAINING 2 HCL GRANT FINALIST NGOS, IN EACH CATEGORY.
A unique aspect of the HCL Grant is that the organisations are recognized not only based on the “idea”, but also for their power to transform these ideas into reality and thereby, transform Indian villages.
HCL Grant awards the winning NGOs in each of the categories of Environment, Health and Education, a grant of ₹ 5 Crore (~US$0.65 Million) for a 4 years’ project. The HCL Grant rewards the other finalists too, who are doing great work in their own right. So the 2 other finalists in each category receive a grant of ₹ 25lakhs (~US$0.03 Million) for a year-long project which is mutually agreed with HCL Foundation after the final Jury meet. Thus, the total committed fund for HCL Grant is ₹16.5 Crores (~US$2.2 Million), for Edition IX. Besides this, each year, work of up to 30 shortlisted NGOs, 10 per category, has been photo-documented and published in The Fifth Estate – The HCL Grant Compendium – Volume I, II, III, IV, V, VI & VII. This is possibly the first-ever, sector-wide, comprehensive compendium of highly credible NGOs, highlighting their proposals submitted for HCL Grant, striving towards the empowerment of rural India. Each one of these case studies is examples of best practices in areas of environment, health and education, with evidence of meaningful transformation in the rural belt of this diverse nation.
So far, the HCL Grant has already committed ₹ 130.45 Crore (~US$15.8 Million) towards high impact projects. Through this commitment, the HCL Grant supported projects aim to cover 27,54,336 people in 27,394 villages in 131 districts across 22 states and 2 Union Territories of India, of which the projects have already covered more than 18 lakh beneficiaries.
HCL Grant aims to achieve sustainable rural development by supporting NGOs that are doing path-breaking work, anywhere in India. HCL Grant has following specific objectives:
- Award financial Grant to innovative, replicable, scalable, sustainable & time-bound projects, proposed by NGOs which are committed towards transformative rural development, in the categories of Environment, Health & Education.
- Identify NGOs that have made significant impact in rural transformation and publish a compendium capturing work of these NGOs, such that they become globally visible for their efforts.
The HCL Grant is awarded under 3 thematic categories – Education, Environment & Health. Below is an indicative list of sub-thematic areas that may be proposed to seek funding under HCL Grant.
*Please note: This is not a comprehensive list and is meant to give NGOs a broad idea of the sub-themes that fall under the purview of HCL Grant
Environment
- Conservation of environment, the indigenous flora and fauna.
- Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and clean energy for all.
- Combating climate change and its impact.
- Protecting, restoring, and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystem and wetlands
- Conservation of natural water bodies, including river rejuvenation, oceans, natural springs, lakes and others.
- Combating desertification, deforestation, land degradation, biodiversity loss, pollution and promoting use of renewable resources. (Please note – proposals that come from agriculture domain only, without any environmental impact, will not be considered under Environment category)
- Wildlife conservation and preservation.
HCL Grant complements and contributes to National Missions & Sustainable Development Goals. Inclusive and gender transformative approaches are encouraged and prioritised under the HCL Grant screening process.
Health
- Equitable & Universal access to Health for all segments of population.
- Access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, prevention and elimination of water borne diseases.
- Maternal, adolescent, child health, nutrition and eradication of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
HCL Grant complements and contributes to National Missions & Sustainable Development Goals. Inclusion and Gender-Transformative approaches are underlying principles for HCL Grant.
Education:
- Right to Education for All by upscaling initiatives that strengthen Early Childhood Care & Development (ECCD), Elementary, Secondary, Higher Education, Adult Literacy & Inclusive Special Education
- Education that promotes learning opportunities through skill development and confidence building, including digital literacy.
- Education that leads to better livelihood opportunities and improved income & better living for young people and adults.
- Holistic education that encompasses co-scholastics such as sports, art and craft, performing & fine arts, promotion of culture, orientation on national heritage, theatre, provides opportunity for not only overall development but also sustainable livelihoods.
- Equitable, inclusive, technology enabled and relevant quality education, leading to gender equality and human resource development.
HCL Grant complements and contributes to National Missions & Sustainable Development Goals. Inclusion and Gender-Transformative approaches are underlying principles for HCL Grant.
WHO CAN APPLY?
The Grant is applicable for NGOs working in the field of Education, Health and Environment with experience of implementing projects in rural India. We encourage organisations from all over India to apply with innovative, replicable and sustainable models, which can make significant contribution towards rural development.
Applicants fulfilling defined eligibility criteria are required to fill the online application form which includes Organisational Profile and Project Abstract along with some mandatory documents.
Register your organisation by filling in the following details – your name, your organisation’s name, a unique username, a valid email address, address including state and city, valid mobile number, relevant thematic areas in which your organisation is working and a password on HCL Grant website. To register, click here.
Log in, using the user name and password received on the registered e-mail id. To log in, click here.
Fill the Organisational Profile, review, save and submit. The Organisational Profile cannot be edited after submission. Please make sure to save your page every time before you leave the website.
Fill the Project Abstract, review, save and submit. (Refer to instructions on the top of the page of project abstract form)
Under the ‘Documents’ tab, download Declaration Form by clicking on ‘Format Attached’, fill it by hand and upload it.
Mandatory Documents to be uploaded to complete the application
- Registration Certificate
- Audited financials for Financial Year 2019-20
- Audited financials for Financial Year 2020-21
- Audited financials for Financial Year 2021-22
- PAN Card
- 80G Certificate
- 80G Renewal Application / Provisional Certificate
- 12A Certificate
- 12A Renewal Application / Provisional Certificate
- CSR Form 1
- Declaration Form (format attached)
Review and submit the form.
You will receive an e-mail acknowledging the submission of your application on the registered e-mail ID.
PRE REQUISITES
- The applicant organization must be a registered entity and qualify the defined eligibility criteria. Further, the name on the application form must match with the registration certificate and other regulatory documents such as PAN, Audited Financials, 80G, 12A, FCRA, etc.
- The organization must have adequate experience of working in rural areas in India.
- The by-laws of the organization must allow it to undertake a project in the proposed thematic category.
- The organization must have a good rapport with the local administration in the proposed project’s location.
- The organization, including its governing body members, must not have any pending litigations.
- The organization must not be blacklisted by any government agency/department/ministry, donor, or international agency.
- The organization must not have faced cancellation of its license/registration/membership, etc., from the regulatory and/or statutory body. These shall cover (but not be limited to) FCRA, EPF, PT, Income Tax, 12A, 80G, GST, PAN, etc.
- The organization, including governing board members, must not have any negative media coverage or any other controversy associated with it.
- The organization or its board members or employees must not have any political or religious affiliations.
- The organization (if announced as winner or runners-up) must open a separate and new bank account for HCL Grant Funds.
- The proposed project must be in line with the provisions of Schedule VII of Section 135 of The Companies Act, 2013 and the CSR Rules 2014, and its amendments/clarifications.
- The proposed project must be in rural area/s.
- The proposed project must be designed for direct implementation by the applicant organization. Sub-granting of HCL funds is not allowed.
- The proposed project must be designed for a grant amount of ₹ 5 Crores (to be received from HCL Foundation) for a period of 4 years. It can be co-funded by a suitable donor that the applicant organization can bring onboard for any additional amount. However, HCL Foundation must be apprised of all funders and stakeholders in advance. Additionally, the organization must report the utilization, outreach, and impact explicitly achieved through the HCL Grant fund.
- The grant amount must not be used solely for infrastructure development such as construction, renovation, purchase of fixed assets like land, buildings, and vehicles, among others. Further, proposed infrastructure development costs must be spent in line with project objectives and activities defined.
- HCL Grant funds can be used to scale-up an existing project or for a new project where co-funding is involved. However, HCL Foundation must be apprised of all funders and stakeholders in advance. Additionally, the organisation must be able to report the utilization, outreach and impact achieved specifically through the HCL Grant fund.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The organization must be a registered not for profit entity in India i.e. either a Society or a Trust or a Section 8 (previously Section 25) company or any other organization (as prescribed under Section 135 of The Companies Act, 2013, the CSR Rules 2014, and its amendments).
The organization must have registered u/s 80G of The Income-tax, 1961. (including organizations who have successfully submitted application for renewal of 80G certificate, subject to further scrutiny).
The organization must have the below-mentioned functional existence (as per their registration certificate) in India on or before 31st March 2023:
- If applying under Education, Health and Environment category – minimum 5 years or above
The organization must be in full compliance with applicable regulatory rules and must have valid documents for registration, audited financial reports, etc. Further, the organization must have valid and timely submissions for requisite statutory and regulatory compliances (wherever applicable). These shall cover (but not limited to) income tax, employee provident fund, professional tax, minimum wages, employee state insurance, goods and service tax and FCRA and / or other relevant regulation depending on the nature of funding/donations it receives.
The organization must have registered u/s 12A of The Income-tax, 1961. (including organizations who have successfully submitted application for renewal of 12A certificate, subject to further scrutiny.)
The organization must have registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as CSR Implementing Agency through Form No. CSR-1. (including organizations who have successfully submitted application, subject to further scrutiny)
The organization must have the below mentioned average expenditure (as per income & expenditure account) for the last three financial years viz. 2019-20, 2020-21 2021-22:
- If applying under Education and Health category – minimum ₹ 1 Crores or above
- If applying under Environment category – minimum ₹ 0.50 Crores or above
If at any point in time, during the entire evaluation process, any organisation is noted to have furnished false or wrong information, the organisation will get disqualified from HCL Grant.
Applications are screened based on predefined eligibility criteria using the information/documents submitted by the applicant organisation.
Organisation profile and project abstract of eligible applicants are reviewed by a group of independent domain experts, sector experts from HCL Foundation, and Governance Partner. Basis of the review includes a mix of objective and subjective parameters such as Governance, Relevance of the Problem and Solution, Potential of Impact and Innovation, and others.
Organisation selected at stage 2 is requested to submit a detailed organisation profile and proposal. Post submission, the application is reviewed by a group of independent domain experts, sector experts from the HCL Foundation and Governance Partner. Additional review parameters include Capacity to Deliver, Financial Modelling, Sustainability, Use of Inclusive approach, Potential for partnership and scalability, and others.
Organisations selected at stage 3 goes through an audit exercise which consists of a field visit by HCL Foundation member and domain expert. Alongside, diligence is conducted by the Governance Partner. The two teams undertake a joint review of the applications basis each other’s findings and shortlist organisations for the next stage
A high-level panel of twelve (12) members reviews the shortlisted applications basis case presentations made jointly by the HCL Field Team and Governance Partner team. All the organisations reviewed at this stage are featured in the HCL Grant – The Fifth Estate (Compendium). The panel selects the top three applicants in each category for the next stage.
The Governance Partner undertakes a detailed diligence exercise for all selected organisations. The exercise involves a review of relevant documents & information, background checks through various sources, visit organisation’s office and project site, discussions with the organisation’s personnel, executives, and board members, others.
A high-level panel of 6 eminent members reviews shortlisted applications basis case presentations made by the Governance Partner. One winner is selected in each of the three categories and awarded a grant of INR 5 Crores each. The two runners-up in each category are awarded a grant of INR 25 Lakhs each.
