Google to fund Indian NGOs

Google's philanthropic arm on Friday announced more than $25 million grant for a wide-ranging environmental, energy and poverty combating efforts, including $2 million to Indian NGO 'Pratham' for an education project.

The company also announced $765,000 for Bangalore-based Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, $660,000 for Centre for Policy Research, $1,015,000 for Institute for Finance Management & Research (IFMR) while NGO database information PRS Legislative Research will get $880,000.

It is part of $175 million the company's board pledged in 2005 to spend over three years. When Google went public in 2004, executives pledged to donate one per cent of the company's equity and one percent of profits to philanthropy. The company's market capitalisation was nearly $190 billion.

"We started with an idea and a vision to make the world a better place," said Google vice president of online operations Sheryl Sandberg, a member of the Google.org board of directors.

"We now embark on trying to work with people all over the world. We realize we are a small player, but we hope to be a player that catalyzes others."

In the area of improving public services, Google.org said $2 million of the funding will go to Pratham to create an independent institute that will conduct the nationwide Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) as well as large scale assessments in the education sector. 

The Centre for Budget and Policy Studies analysis group is working to create a Budget Information Service for local governments to improve district- and municipal-level planning.

The Centre for Policy Research, an action-oriented think tank based in India, will be helped to increase the debate and discourse on issues of urban local governance and urban service delivery.

IFMR will be working to create district level development indices in India and to support mapping of information including research, government, non-governmental organisations.

PRS legislative research is being granted the aid to increase citizen engagement, track the performance of members of parliament, and procure photocopies of state laws throughout India.

As part of its "predict and prevent" push, Google.org is donating $2.5 million to respond to biological threats to the Global Health and Security Initiative (GHSI), a group set up by the Nuclear Threat Initiative run by US Senator Sam Nunn.

But the largest chunk, $10 million each will go to California-based eSolar, which designs solar thermal power plants and Makani Power Inc to support R&D on high-altitude wind energy extraction technologies aimed at producing utility-scale power cheaper than coal.