Technology is no longer optional in addressing social problems; it sits at the heart of solutions. However, innovators need sustained support to reach the last mile, Infosys Foundation trustee Sunil Kumar Dhareshwar said. He added that such projects don’t get the same attention as startups do from private equity (PE) funds and venture capitalists.
“There are two funding-related problems, adequacy and consistency. Many social innovators depend on philanthropic contributions that are either inadequate or inconsistent,” Dhareshwar told ET.
The trustee, who also holds the position of global chief business officer for consulting, BPM, products, and platform businesses at the IT giant, was speaking on the sidelines of the Aarohan Social Innovation Awards 2025, announced last week.
Dhareshwar said, “India’s linguistic diversity makes scaling hard. Tech platforms must be replicated across multiple languages and local contexts; otherwise, deployment will remain limited.”
Speaking about the winner chosen this year under three categories — education, healthcare and environmental sustainability — Dhareshwar said all the solutions had cleared the prototype stage, were proven, and were scalable.
‘Predictable funding needed’
“Longer-term commitment is needed so innovators can plan and attract talent, knowing funding will be there for multiple years,” the trustee added. The senior leader at Infosys said that at the foundation, programmes are funded over a 3–4 year period to be consistent with partners.
Being a numbers man himself, the expert weighed in on whether social-sector initiatives need to be profitable to scale. He said the organisations should be sustainable, and not profitable. “Profit can distort the social purpose. I don’t insist on profit in the commercial sense; rather, a reasonable surplus. That surplus helps in crises and ensures the organisation can continue even if market sales don’t materialise immediately. “
He added that the priority for such organisations should be affordable pricing and accessibility that serves the underprivileged, not profit maximisation.
On problems that need more focus, Dhareshwar said environment and sustainability are urgent. Education and health have had longer attention and more organisations working in those spaces. “Environmental concerns, water scarcity, pollution, and climate variability have become more acute recently as India develops rapidly.”
Rajesh Rao won this year’s Aarohan awards in the education category for Connecting the Dots. It’s an interactive learning programme to teach STEM and spoken English to government school students. In the healthcare category, Chitrandan Singh and Robin Singh from Deori were the winners with Cluix, a portable AI and IoT-enabled water-quality analyser that generates real-time, GPS-tagged reports that identify waterborne disease risks within minutes.
Rahul Bakare from Pune won the environment category for developing a Bore Charger. An artificial borewell recharging technique that can inject anywhere between 4 to 80 lakh litres of rainwater into existing borewells annually, reducing tanker dependence, improving water quality, and improving agricultural productivity.
“There are two funding-related problems, adequacy and consistency. Many social innovators depend on philanthropic contributions that are either inadequate or inconsistent,” Dhareshwar told ET.
The trustee, who also holds the position of global chief business officer for consulting, BPM, products, and platform businesses at the IT giant, was speaking on the sidelines of the Aarohan Social Innovation Awards 2025, announced last week.
Dhareshwar said, “India’s linguistic diversity makes scaling hard. Tech platforms must be replicated across multiple languages and local contexts; otherwise, deployment will remain limited.”
Speaking about the winner chosen this year under three categories — education, healthcare and environmental sustainability — Dhareshwar said all the solutions had cleared the prototype stage, were proven, and were scalable.
‘Predictable funding needed’
“Longer-term commitment is needed so innovators can plan and attract talent, knowing funding will be there for multiple years,” the trustee added. The senior leader at Infosys said that at the foundation, programmes are funded over a 3–4 year period to be consistent with partners.
Being a numbers man himself, the expert weighed in on whether social-sector initiatives need to be profitable to scale. He said the organisations should be sustainable, and not profitable. “Profit can distort the social purpose. I don’t insist on profit in the commercial sense; rather, a reasonable surplus. That surplus helps in crises and ensures the organisation can continue even if market sales don’t materialise immediately. “
He added that the priority for such organisations should be affordable pricing and accessibility that serves the underprivileged, not profit maximisation.
On problems that need more focus, Dhareshwar said environment and sustainability are urgent. Education and health have had longer attention and more organisations working in those spaces. “Environmental concerns, water scarcity, pollution, and climate variability have become more acute recently as India develops rapidly.”
Rajesh Rao won this year’s Aarohan awards in the education category for Connecting the Dots. It’s an interactive learning programme to teach STEM and spoken English to government school students. In the healthcare category, Chitrandan Singh and Robin Singh from Deori were the winners with Cluix, a portable AI and IoT-enabled water-quality analyser that generates real-time, GPS-tagged reports that identify waterborne disease risks within minutes.
Rahul Bakare from Pune won the environment category for developing a Bore Charger. An artificial borewell recharging technique that can inject anywhere between 4 to 80 lakh litres of rainwater into existing borewells annually, reducing tanker dependence, improving water quality, and improving agricultural productivity.