Across rural India, climate change is severely impacting livelihoods. Erratic rainfall, prolonged dry or wet spells, cyclone, and rising temperatures are not just environmental challenges—they are severely impacting rural families whose incomes depend on agriculture and allied livelihoods.

Ambuja Foundation is a leading rural development NGO offering a household approach to promote and strengthen rural agriculture, women empowerment.

This World Environment Day, as the world focuses on ‘Ending Plastic Pollution,’ it's time to shine a spotlight on rural India—where the plastic crisis is growing silently but steadily.

As we mark World Earth Day 2025, it’s the perfect moment to spotlight the role of solar energy in transforming rural India—not just environmentally, but socially and economically as well. With climate change looming and traditional resources depleting, clean, alternate and renewable energy isn’t just an ideal—it’s a lifeline. Across villages in India, solar power is reshaping daily life, making communities more resilient, self-reliant, and future-ready.

Ranjana is the President of Kumkum Self Help Group, has two children, and her husband used to work as a laborer under a contractor. However, during the Covid-19 crisis, her husband lost his job, due to which the income of her family stopped – making it difficult to run the household and cover expenses.

When it comes to community development, our aim is to reach out to the bottom of the pyramid – and often the first port of call in reaching them is via local community leaders. But this strategy alone is fraught with challenges, as local influences and other biases mean that often the truly poor, are overlooked.

Ambuja Foundation is fortunate to have a visionary Chairman at the helm of its Board of Directors, whose success in business is widely lauded – having built one of India’s iconic companies. However, as a humble and quiet gentleman who doesn’t like to stand on his own soapbox, it is often difficult to get inside the mind of Narotam Sekhsaria to understand what makes him tick. In an intimate interview with Thrive, Mr Sekhsaria shares his bold dreams and desires for the future of Ambuja Foundation.

As India celebrated its 75th Independence yesterday, its struggle for independence against COVID-19 still continues. The second wave was a harsh blow for the health administration government and its citizens. But with immediate support from countries, various corporates, organizations and individuals, India was able to control the crisis effectively. Ambuja Cements through its CSR arm, Ambuja Foundation also played a major role at district level working closely with district collectors and local health administrations in fulfilling urgent support and medical requirement in rural areas. For such efforts various districts appreciated the organization on the occasion of Independence day.

On 29th April, 2017,Mangi Budruk village was declared a Smart Village and awarded a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh by the Govt of Maharashtra. Yet a little over a decade ago, barely 10 of its 234 households even had a toilet.

Throughout the world, people want the same things - access to clean air and water; economic opportunities; a safe and healthy place to raise their kids; shelter and a say in the decisions that affect their lives.

"Whenever we have enabled communities to chart their own progress, they have reached far greater heights," points out Pearl Tiwari - CEO of Ambuja Foundation in this riveting interview with Thrive.

By building people's institutions, Ambuja Foundation generates a multiplier effect- empowering men and women to run their own Federations or Farmer Producer Organisations and kickstarting a movement in the process.