It was a great honour to have NABARD's Chairman, Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, visit Ambuja Foundation in Ropar, Punjab, earlier this year. With multiple projects in partnership with Ambuja Foundation, the purpose of his visit was to view on ground programs initiated as part of the collaboration.
The Chairman took the opportunity to visit the office of Rupnagar Producer Company Ltd and met with member farmers to discuss the impact and challenges faced through their business activities. A detailed discussion was also conducted with a few shareholders.
The Chairman was felicitated by Mr Didar Singh, Chairman RPCL before interacting with the farmers and expressed his delight towards the projects. Amazed by the brilliant work, Dr Harsh Kumar congratulated Ambuja Cements Unit Head, Mr Rajiv Jain and team for the various development initiatives like crop residue management campaign and FPO promotion of Rupnagar Producer Company.
The NABARD & Ambuja Foundation Partnership:
What started as an investment in one small watershed project in 2008 in Darlaghat, today has swelled to investment in 35 projects across 11 locations in the areas of Agriculture, Women, Water and Skills verticals - impacting almost 25,000 people.
The National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development is the development bank of the nation for fostering rural prosperity. Owned by Government of India, the bank invests heavily in promoting sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development through participative interventions, innovations, technology and institutional development.
With a similar vision for rural prosperity, NABARD and Ambuja Foundation make natural partners. Ambuja Foundation plays a crucial role as a project implementing agency, where most projects are community-centric and require high levels of community engagement, a core area of expertise for Ambuja Foundation. NABARD acts as the primary investor and plays a role in monitoring the progress and outcomes of projects.
Poverty in rural areas is complex and therefore integrated approaches are required to uplift the socio-economic wellbeing of the community. Here NABARD and Ambuja Foundation work together on varied projects.
