HCL Grant Announces Edition VI; Application Portal is Live Now

HCL Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of HCL Technologies (HCL), announces the opening of the application portal for Edition VI of HCL Grant, one of the most coveted institutionalized CSR grants of India. HCL Grant is a flagship program of HCL Foundation which recognizes the rise of the community-led ecosystem of NGOs -- the Fifth Estate. It recognizes the path-breaking work being done by NGOs in rural development through an independent, robust and democratic process.

The Grant is applicable for NGOs working in the fields of Education, Health and Environment and that have experience implementing projects in rural India. Organizations with innovative, replicable and sustainable models, which can make a significant contribution towards rural development in the categories of Education, Health and Environment, are eligible for it.

Three NGOs, one for each of the three categories will be awarded a grant of INR 5 crores each for a 3-5 year-project. In addition, the remaining two finalist NGOs in each category will be awarded a one-year grant of ₹25 lacs, taking the overall Grant commitment to ₹16.5 crore.

In the current edition, HCL Grant has made a few changes in its process. From this edition onwards, the eligibility criteria in the Education and Health categories concerning an NGO’s average annual expenditure over the last three years has been reduced from INR 1.5 crores to INR 1 crore. Also, henceforth, NGOs will need to submit only a brief concept note of the proposal in Stage 1 (as per the online format). Detailed proposals will be required only in Stage 2 from the shortlisted NGOs. There will be no charge or fees while submitting the application. No authorized individual, third party, company, agency or organization may accept an application on behalf of HCL Grant or ask for any benefit, either monetary or in kind, for completing the application process.

In these times of global and  national crisis, HCL Foundation, while continuing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, also reaffirms that the HCL Grant commitment will remain directed towards the objective of achieving sustainable, replicable & scalable rural development, through long-term strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened a range of challenges in rural India, over and above the already prevailing conditions. While HCL Foundation recognizes that the applicant NGOs will take into consideration these challenges, it requests NGOs to ensure that the HCL Grant proposal remains focused on transformational & impactful rural development, in the areas of Environment, Health & Education, through innovative, relevant & cost-effective strategies.

While applying for HCL Grant Edition VI, it is imperative that the COVID 19 Pandemic situation on the ground should to be taken into consideration. The pandemic has impacted various states and districts differently, and therefore it is critical that the situation assessment is done at micro-meso-macro levels while developing long term solutions towards issues related to Environment, Health & Education in rural belt of India. The NGOs will be treating COVID-19 as the ‘new normal’ till the world finds a permanent solution to it, yet focusing on regular rural developmental areas while taking all measures to contain the spread of the pandemic. This further calls for NGOs to strengthen the aspects of ‘innovation’ and ‘use of technology’ in their HCL Grant application.

The HCL Grant Edition VI Portal is now live and the new website can be accessed at https://www.hclfoundation.org/hcl-grant. The last date for submitting the application is 8^th August 2020.

About HCL Grant

HCL Grant, an initiative by HCL Foundation, the philanthropic arm of HCL Technologies is a step towards recognition of the ‘The Fifth Estate’ contributing towards Nation Building. Started in 2015, it is a commitment by HCL to strengthen transformation in the areas of Education, Health and Environment, by reaching out to marginalized, isolated and underdeveloped rural communities, and achieve sustainable socio-economic development. A unique aspect of the HCL Grant is that the organizations are recognized not only based on the ‘idea’, but also for their power to transform ideas into implementable projects and thereby transform Indian villages in a sustainable way.

For more information please log on to  https://www.hclfoundation.org/hcl-grant

World Music Day | Introducing Soundscape by HCL Concerts

HCL Concerts has been committed to encouraging and promoting the Indian Classical performing arts for over 22 years. Now for the very first time, HCL Concerts is expanding its musical experiences to include sounds from across the Indian landscape and resonates through the soul of our cultural heritage.  The new initiative ‘HCL Concerts - soundscape’ – offers a series of virtual performances featuring established and emerging artist from across genres such as indie pop, sufi, folk, devotional, regional, classical and more. Soundscapes consists of a fortnightly music bash featuring a careful selection of dack-to- back performances  across three days.

The very first HCL Concerts Soundscape will be brought to audiences on World Music Day through June 19 -21), featuring Mame Khan (Rajasthani Folk) on June 19, Kavita Seth (Sufi) on June 20 and Palash Sen (Indie Pop) on June 21. These performances will be live-streamed on the Facebook page of HCL Concerts (www.facebook.com/HCLConcerts). 

Do let us know if you are planning story around the upcoming ‘World Music Day’ and would be interested in interacting the the artists. I am appending below their  profiles for your reference.

About HCL Concerts

The conservation and promotion of India’s art and cultural heritage is very close to HCL’s heart. To this end, HCL has been organizing HCL Concerts for 22 years, dedicated to nurturing and promoting talent rooted in the glorious heritage of Indian classical performing arts. Concerts under the umbrella of HCL Concerts are organized in Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Nagpur, Madurai, Chennai and Bengaluru in India and in New York and San Francisco in the US regularly throughout the year. Over 600 artists have graced this platform and have contributed towards reinvigorating the Indian classical performing arts.

Over the years, more platforms have been developed to contribute to the growth of the Indian performing arts ecosystem. Most notable of these are the HCL music App, allowing music lovers across the world a chance to enjoy the most comprehensive collection of classical music from the comforts of their home for free, and HCL Digital Concerts, a talent identification and nurturing program aimed at showcasing talented and upcoming classical performing artists to a global audience through a digital medium. For more information, visit – http://www.hclconcerts.com

HCL Foundation announces winners of fifth edition of HCL Grant

·         Three winning NGOs in categories of Education, Healthcare & Environment felicitated by Mr. Kapil Dev

·         Winners received a grant of ₹5 crore each (US$ 2.1Mn)

Kolkata, India, February 27, 2020: HCL Foundation (HCLF), the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of HCL Technologies, today announced the recipients of the fifth edition of HCL Grant  in the presence of Padma Bhushan, Mr. Kapil Dev, a legend in the global world of cricket and former captain of the Indian Cricket team.

HCL Grant is one of the biggest and most coveted institutionalized CSR grants in India that aims to recognize the rise of the Fifth Estate - the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) - and support their breakthrough projects reaching out to the rural communities in the country.

The evening was also graced by Mr. Shiv Nadar, Founder & Chairman, HCL, Ms. Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Vice Chairperson of HCL Technologies and the Chairperson of its CSR committee, and Mr. Prateek Aggarwal, Chief Financial Officer, HCL Technologies along with senior dignitaries, officials, NGO-partners and HCL leadership.

HCL Grant 2020 witnessed three NGOs across the categories of Education, Healthcare and Environment receiving a grant of ₹5 crores each. The remaining six finalists across the three categories also received ₹25 lakhs each, taking the overall Grant to ₹16.5 crore.

The finalists and the winners were selected by an eminent jury, which was chaired by Ms. Robin Abrams, Member of the Board, HCL Technologies.

Recipients of HCL Grant 2020 given in a separate sheet.

“It is extremely important to bring equal opportunities to people coming from every strata of the society. Health, Education and Environment are one of the most important pillars towards India’s development goals and I am highly impressed with the kind of impact these NGOs are bringing in the rural communities. Also, the robustness of the identification process is something I have not witnessed before. I congratulate both HCL as well the winners and finalists for the phenomenal work they are doing in their respective fields,” Mr. Kapil Dev said while addressing the audience at the event.

HCL Grant began its journey in 2015 and over the years witnessed some remarkable work being done by the supported NGOs to strengthen grass root and sustainable development. Excluding the current grant, HCL Grant has already disbursed ₹51.5 crores (US$ 7.4Mn) to benefit nearly 500,000 people and its supported projects aim to cover over a million people spread across 7,500 villages across 13 States and one Union Territory in the country.

“HCL Foundation is our long-term commitment for social development and today it has improved over 1.5 million lives across our country. Our collaborative model allows us to support communities with critical concerns needing immediate attention and HCL Grant is a prime example of the same. I am proud to say that today the improvements we have been able to drive together with the HCL Grant partner NGOs is not just in terms of immediate impact on beneficiary lives, but also about ensuring long-term sustainable change by influencing state and government policies.” said Ms. Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Vice-Chairperson, HCL Technologies and Chairperson, CSR Committee, HCL Technologies.    

Speaking on the occasion Ms. Nidhi Pundhir, Director HCL Foundation, said “This is a very special year for us as we complete half a decade of empowering the NGOs that are committed to ushering change. This annual HCL Grant event is a culmination of our year-long efforts to identify partners who have the potential to achieve the maximum impact through their social development projects.. We are truly honored to have received applications from all parts of the country and my heartiest congratulations to the winning NGOs for giving us the opportunity to partner with them and support ideas for impactful positive change.”

During the event, HCL Foundation also released the compendium of the previous year’s finalists and winning NGOs, named “Fifth Estate – NGOs Transforming Rural India in Environment, Health and Education”.

For more information please visit www.hclfoundation.org/hcl-grant

About HCL Grant

HCL Grant, an initiative by HCL Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of HCL Technologies is a step towards recognizing the ‘The Fifth Estate’ and its contribution towards Nation Building. Started in 2015, it is a commitment by HCL to strengthen transformation in the areas of Education, Health and Environment, by reaching out to marginalized, isolated and underdeveloped rural communities to achieve sustainable socio-economic development. HCL Grant recognizes organizations not only based on the merit of their “idea”, but also for their ability to transform these ideas into implementable projects in order to transform rural Indian in a sustainable way.

For more information please log on to www.hclfoundation.org/hcl-grant

About HCL Technologies 

HCL Technologies (HCL) empowers global enterprises with technology for the next decade today. HCL’s Mode 1-2-3 strategy, through its deep-domain industry expertise, customer-centricity and entrepreneurial culture of ideapreneurship™ enables businesses to transform into next-gen enterprises. 

HCL offers its services and products through three business units - IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) and Products & Platforms (P&P). ITBS enables global enterprises to transform their businesses through offerings in areas of Applications, Infrastructure, Digital Process Operations and next generational digital transformation solutions. ERS offers engineering services and solutions in all aspects of product development and platform engineering. Under P&P, HCL provides modernized software products to global clients for their technology and industry-specific requirements. Through its cutting-edge co-innovation labs, global delivery capabilities and broad global network, HCL delivers holistic services in various industry verticals, categorized under Financial Services, Manufacturing, Technology & Services, Telecom & Media, Retail & CPG, Life Sciences & Healthcare and Public Services. 

As a leading global technology company, HCL takes pride in its diversity, social responsibility, sustainability and education initiatives. As of 12 months ended December 31, 2019, HCL has a consolidated revenue of US$ 9.7 billion and its 149,000 ideapreneurs operate out of 45 countries. For more information, visit www.hcltech.com

Forward–looking Statements 

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the statements containing the words 'planned', 'expects', 'believes’,’ strategy', 'opportunity', 'anticipates', 'hopes' or other similar words. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding impact of pending regulatory proceedings, fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services, business process outsourcing and consulting services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, customer acceptances of our services, products and fee structures, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, our ability to integrate acquired assets in a cost-effective and timely manner, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-timeframe contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, the success of our brand development efforts, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies /entities in which we have made strategic investments, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property, other risks, uncertainties and general economic conditions affecting our industry. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made herein will prove to be accurate, and issuance of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company, or any other person, that the objective and plans of the Company will be achieved. All forward-looking statements made herein are based on information presently available to the Management of the Company and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.