IDFC First Bank has partnered with the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) to launch a ₹2 crore pan-India programme aimed at nurturing enterprises working on sustainable business solutions. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine and Business Standard, the initiative was announced on Monday by officials from both organizations. The programme, named IGNITE, will provide total financial and operational support of ₹2 crore, including a direct startup grant corpus of ₹1.36 crore. The IIM Calcutta Innovation Park is a not-for-profit (Section 8) company established under the aegis of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in India, recognized by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.
Under the programme, 16 startups from across the country will be selected through a competitive evaluation process. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine and Business Standard, the focus areas include green manufacturing, waste recycling and upcycling, cleantech, renewable energy, water management, environmental technologies and the sustainable use of indigenous resources. The selected startups will undergo a structured incubation journey comprising business diagnostics, expert mentoring, intensive bootcamps, networking opportunities and industry ecosystem access. The initiative seeks to address India's most pressing sustainability challenges by supporting entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions that promote resource efficiency, waste reduction, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods.
The initiative aims to help early-stage ventures strengthen their business models, expand market reach and deliver measurable environmental and social outcomes. According to the official statement, the top-performing enterprises will also receive performance-linked grant support to scale up their operations. The programme facilitates scale-up of 16 environmentally sustainable products or services, enables diversion of waste from landfills through recycling, upcycling, composting and circular economy solutions, improves business capabilities and operational readiness of participating enterprises, and contributes to livelihood creation through employment growth within incubated startups. The initiative seeks to strengthen India's sustainability ecosystem through innovation-led entrepreneurship while enabling revenue growth and market expansion for participating enterprises.
The IIM Calcutta Innovation Park has demonstrated significant impact in India's startup ecosystem. To date, IIMCIP has supported over 2,000 startups and seed-funded 136 ventures, which have collectively raised more than ₹2,000 crore and built a cumulative portfolio valuation of nearly ₹8,000 crore. The organization works closely with government bodies, corporates and academia to strengthen India's innovation ecosystem, foster high-impact collaborations and promote women's entrepreneurship, with a special focus on underserved regions of the country. IDFC FIRST Bank's CSR initiatives focus on creating sustainable and inclusive social impact through strategic investments in education, healthcare, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, and community development.
