Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has called on Indian companies to move beyond conventional corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and invest in scalable, job-creating rural entrepreneurship models that can deliver meaningful social impact.
Speaking at an event organised by Suzuki Motor Corporation in Bengaluru on Friday, Kant said India must prioritise technology-driven, job-rich entrepreneurship in rural areas to achieve its ambition of growing from a $4 trillion economy to a $30 trillion economy by 2047.
“To be able to do this, you need growth, but with growth we need jobs. You need to create large-scale entrepreneurship, and you need to create entrepreneurship in rural areas of India and create jobs in the Bharat of India, not only in the urban areas,” he said.
Kant expressed concern that despite significant corporate spending on CSR, much of it has failed to generate substantial employment or create large-scale social impact in rural India.
“A lot of money is being deployed as part of CSR, but it is not having an impact in terms of social impact. It is not having an impact in terms of jobs. It is not having an impact in terms of creating a huge impact in rural areas,” he said.
On Suzuki’s fund-of-funds initiative, Next Bharat Ventures, he said the model supports rural enterprises through funding, mentorship, training and market linkages. According to Kant, the initiative provides a scalable blueprint for creating sustainable livelihoods and strengthening the country’s MSME sector.
Government alone cannot create entrepreneurship and jobs
Kant said the government can play an important role in facilitating entrepreneurship and employment, but creating enterprises and generating jobs at scale is ultimately difficult for the government to do on its own.
“I’m saying this as a person who had launched the Startup India movement in 2016. Startups require resources, they require to create, penetrate markets, they require technology, they require good governance and they require finance. The challenge for India today is to grow with jobs,” he said.
He added that Suzuki’s funding initiative could have a significant impact on India, potentially exceeding the broader social impact of its automobile business.
Kant said Suzuki’s model identifies promising entrepreneurs across sectors such as livelihoods, agriculture, handicrafts and handlooms, and supports them through training, funding and backward and forward market linkages.
“Each one of these enterprises is having a multiplier impact on the country,” he said.
The initiative, he noted, covers a wide range of critical sectors, including healthcare, education, handlooms, nutrition, agriculture and animal husbandry.
He urged other corporates to adopt and expand similar models, arguing that such initiatives need to be implemented on a much larger scale to create sustainable enterprises, generate employment and deliver greater social impact across the country.
Published – August 28, 2026 10:02 pm IST
