Re-Imagining Traditional Finance
for India's COVID Recovery
Regulatory Enablers for Mainstreaming Innovative Finance
28th May 2021
Presented By:
Agenda
3:00 PM
Opening and Context
Karanraj Chaudri, Advisor India & South Asia, UNDP SDG and Innovative Finance
3:05 PM
Keynote Address
Highlighting the importance of leveraging private capital for social impact to achieve India’s development goals
Amarjeet Singh, Executive Director, SEBI
3:20 PM
Presentation
Explaining the key findings of the report and legal recommendations to create a favorable environment for scaling blended finance solutions
Meyyappan N, Leader Impact Investments and Social Finance, Nishith Desai Associates
3:35 PM
Panel Discussion
Sharing perspectives on how blended finance deals can catalyze development and aid in India’s COVID-19 recovery
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Ajit Pai, Distinguished Expert, Head of Economics and Finance, NITI Aayog
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Amit Chandra, Managing Director and Chairman, Bain Capital Private Equity India
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Prabhat Pani, Senior Advisor, Tata Trusts & Head of Social Interventions, SPJIMR
Moderated by Geeta Goel, Country Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation India
4:35 PM
Questions from the Audience
4:50 PM
Report Launch & Closing Remarks
Kavita Sachwani, State Program Coordinator, 2030 WRG, World Bank
Ramraj Pai, Chief Executive Officer, Impact Investors Council
About the Report
COVID-19 is an unprecedented health and development crisis. The efforts required to contain its spread by curtailing movement to limit exposure have severely impacted lives and livelihoods and stalled economic activity. While a significant amount of capital has been deployed by the Government, there is scope to do more. Commercial mainstream capital can fill this funding gap, provided opportunities are appropriately structured and the risk return profile is aligned. Blended finance involves using philanthropic or concessionary funds to de-risk investments in order to attract commercial capital. This catalytic approach leads to a leveraging effect where every rupee of grant money deployed attracts many multiples of commercial capital.
Key focus areas of the report are:
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Blended finance solutions for addressing the credit crunch faced by MSMEs and small holder farmers and enhancing the employment prospects of India youth through strategic skill development.
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Insights into the legal obstacles facing blended finance, drawn from live deals being structured in the Market
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Recommendations for legal revisions in laws such as Income Tax, GST and CSR that would allow for quick and large-scale disbursal of capital through blended financial deals.
About the Event
Impact Investors Council, Nishith Desai Associates, UNDP and the 2030 Water Resources Group hosted by the World Bank have come together and developed an action-oriented Report, ‘Re-Imaging Traditional Finance for India’s COVID -19 Recovery’ which lays out the key regulatory enablers needed to catalyse and grow the blended finance market in India.
As an industry, we believe it is an opportune time for us to come together and discuss the various modalities using which more commercial and philanthropic capital could be leveraged to solve critical social challenges. We would like to humbly invite you to join us for the report launch, and a pursuant discussion on the key findings from the report with leading philanthropists in the industry.
Speakers
Ajit Pai
Distinguished Expert, Head of Economics and Finance, NITI Aayog
Amarjeet Singh
Executive Director, SEBI
Amit Chandra
Managing Director and Chairman, Bain Capital Private Equity India
Geeta Goel
Country Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation India
Prabhat Pani
Senior Advisor, Tata Trusts &
Head of Social Interventions, SPJIMR
Meyyappan N
Leader Impact Investments and Social Finance, Nishith Desai Associates
Karanraj Chaudri
Advisor India & South Asia, UNDP SDG and Innovative Finance
Kavita Sachwani
State Program Coordinator, 2030 WRG, World Bank
Ramraj Pai
Chief Executive Officer, Impact Investors Council
About the Organisers
IIC
The Impact Investors Council (IIC) is India's preeminent member-based not for profit industry body set up to strengthen Impact Investing in the country. IIC's key areas of activity and effort include advocacy and policy support, research and publications in addition to a strong focus on impact measurement and management. We are supported by 40+ investors and ecosystem partners including Aavishkaar Group, Omidyar Network, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Elevar Equity, and Caspian Investment Advisors, amongst others. www.iiic.in
NDA
Nishith Desai Associates ("NDA") has the reputation of being one of Asia's most innovative law firms and the go-to specialists for investors and philanthropies around the world, looking to conduct businesses in India. We are a research and strategy driven international firm with offices in Mumbai, Palo Alto (Silicon Valley), Bangalore, Singapore, New Delhi, Munich and New York. NDA advises several impact investors and philanthropies, including structuring impact bonds and setting up of impact funds. NDA has been invited to present onImpact Investment and Corporate Social Responsibility ("CSR") at an academic conference organized by the University of Lund. Our recent pro bono project on “India Impact Investing Guide”, has been recently nominated for the TrustLaw Impact Award, 2020 which "recognises projects that demonstrate significant impact for a Non Governmental Organization ("NGO") or social enterprise, their community and beyond".
SDG Finance Facility
The SDG Finance Facility is a multi-stakeholder platform that supports the incubation and design of innovative financial instruments, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), to crowd-in additional capital to address the key development challenges in India. It also works to strengthen the sustainable finance market architecture in India and supports the development of innovative finance through actionable research and strategic partnerships. The SDG Finance Facility is anchored by UNDP with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
2030 WRG, World Bank
The 2030 Water Resources Group ("2030 WRG") is a public-private-civil society platform, conceived in the World Economic Forum in 2008, and hosted by the World Bank’s Water Global Practice since 2018. 2030 WRG helps countries achieve water security by facilitating collective action between government, the private sector, and civil society, with government firmly in the lead and offers technical support for the design and implementation of policies, programmes, financing instruments, and projects that improve water resilience, transform value chains and promote a circular water economy through innovative approaches. 2030 WRG’s mandate is in line with the United Nations’ SDG 6, which aims to ensure safe water and sanitation for people, ecosystems, and the economy through SDG 17 on partnerships for the goals by 2030. 2030 WRG is active in 11 countries including India where it works in partnership with the state governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, through a Water Multi-Stakeholders Platform.
Registration
Re-Imagining Traditional Finance
for India's COVID Recovery
Friday, 28th May 2021
Presented By:
