Overview
India's emergence as one of the world's largest and fastest-growing major economies reflects sustained progress across economic growth, job creation, and the clean energy transition. As the country advances towards its vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, it is also playing an increasingly important role in shaping global conversations on development, climate action, and sustainable growth.
CIFF supports the Government of India's development priorities to accelerate progress towards sustainable impact at scale. Here's a glimpse of our work over the past year.
Expanding access to education
Expanding access to secondary education for girls is one of India’s strongest opportunities to drive inclusive growth and shared prosperity. When girls are able to complete secondary education, they are better positioned to pursue higher education, access quality employment, and participate fully in the economy. Addressing the financial and structural barriers that hold many girls back can unlock long-term gains in economic empowerment and social mobility, while simultaneously strengthening India’s human capital and overall economic growth.
Government scholarship schemes provide an effective solution. Four states are taking steps to improve access to these schemes through simplified and digitised processes, stronger monitoring systems, and community engagement to encourage girls to stay in school. Between 2023 and 2025, more than 300,000 additional eligible girls have accessed scholarships and remained in school. Over this period, the programme achieved an 11% increase in eligible girls receiving scholarships and a 3% improvement in girls transitioning to the next level of secondary education, helping reduce dropouts.
Providing a girl with the chance to stay in school has a transformational impact—not only for her, but also for families, communities, and the country’s economy. Education empowers girls to become decision-makers, expands their opportunities and economic agency, and generates ripple effects across generations: improving health, delaying early marriage, increasing household incomes, and contributing to more resilient and prosperous societies.
Philanthropy can play an important role in supporting government priorities by complementing public systems with outcome orientation through evidence, innovation, and long-term thinking. CIFF’s support to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and National Skill Development Corporation has been valuable on this front.
Photo Credit: istock / Umesh negi
Accelerating clean growth
India’s development trajectory is increasingly defined by clean growth, where climate action and economic progress move hand in hand. As renewable energy expands, transport electrifies, and green industries gain momentum, states are playing a key role in translating national climate ambitions into tangible on-ground action.
Maharashtra is one such example, exemplifying this momentum. Since 2019, early work in collaboration with partners has contributed to the development of a model for solarising agricultural feeders under PM-KUSUM. This effort supported the state in issuing tenders worth 10 GW of capacity, of which 3.3 GW has already been commissioned, with plans to scale up to 16 GW. Building on this foundation, we expanded our engagement to electric mobility, working with cities such as Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nagpur, and Thane to strengthen EV charging infrastructure and adoption. Maharashtra has since launched an updated EV policy with a doubled budget, reinforcing its leadership in clean mobility.
Progress is also evident in rooftop solar. In Uttar Pradesh, nearly 40% of households in Varanasi have adopted rooftop solar, providing a strong model for replication. Building on this success, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy launched the City Accelerator Program to drive rooftop solar adoption across 100 cities. The programme is now being implemented across multiple states, with rollout underway in 40 cities across 14 states as of January 2026. Reflecting this national push, budgetary allocation to rooftop solar has increased by 10% this year and now accounts for two-thirds of the ministry’s total budget.
India’s clean growth journey—driven by renewable energy, electric mobility, and rooftop solar—lays the foundation for a resilient, net-zero economy by 2047, with CIFF committed to supporting government and state partners in unlocking green jobs, strengthening energy security, and making climate action central to long-term development.
