Sir Ratan Tata Trust

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Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) was founded in 1919 with a sum of Indian currency ₹8 million. It was under the Ownership of Ratan Tata until his death. Noel Tata was appointed as the Chairman of the Tata Trusts on 11 October 2024, post the demise of Ratan Tata. Established in accordance with the will of Sir Ratanji Tata,^[1] the Trust is now one of the oldest grant bestowing foundations in India.^[2]

The Trust has, for about a century, been instrumental in development processes, providing grants to institutions in the areas of rural livelihoods and communities, education, health, enhancing civil society and governance and arts, crafts and culture.^[3][4]

The Trust provides grants and partners with organisations that engage in innovative and sustainable initiatives and with the potential to make a visible difference. It also provides grants for endowments, has a separate programme for small grants and gives grants to individuals for education and medical relief.

SRTT is part of Tata Trusts which is headed by the CEO Siddharth Sharma.

The grants offered by the Trust can be broadly classified as:^[5]

• Institutional grants
• Endowment grants
• Small grants
• Individual grants

The bulk of these grants are in the areas of rural livelihoods and communities and education. Within rural livelihoods and communities the Trust focuses on key initiatives within two broad areas:

• Land and water development
• Microfinance

This programme is currently headed by Amrita Patwardhan.

• Reforming elementary education
• Nurturing education as a discipline
• Alternative education
• Higher education

This programme is currently headed by Dr. Vikram Gupta.

• Rural health programmes
• Specialised healthcare services
• Health resources and health systems
• Clinical establishment
• Donate poor patients taking treatment in private hospitals.

This programme is currently headed by Vartika Jaini.

• Citizenship and participation
• Human rights and governance
• Governance in civil society

Under this sub-theme, the Trust focuses on revival of the performing arts with a strong emphasis on the livelihoods of performing artists. This will be achieved through support to:

• Promotion of networks of artist communities
• Encouragement of collective learning and self-help
• Cultivating markets and audiences
• Enhancing the artists ability to attract financial support and increased performance avenues

otherThrough this new sub-theme, the SRTT aim to ensure sustenance of crafts and craft communities. The Trust looks to support initiatives that:

• Provide catalytic training for Indian craft artisans
• Ensure the craft artisans attain financial security and the Indian crafts gain market visibility
• Have potential scaling-up possibilities that can impact large artisan livelihoods

Under this sub-theme, SRTT primarily supports projects to devise strategies by which to conserve national art treasures and enhance public use and access to endangered cultural heritage.

The Trust supports community based media projects that have the potential to add value to the quality of life of communities, especially in the rural areas.

The Trust has developed and used endowments to sustain mission-driven institutions that influence positive change in society. It has a formal endowment strategy with well-set norms and clearly defined criteria that enable it to identify and appraise deserving institutions. The endowment portfolio includes Professional Assistance for Development Action (New Delhi), National Council of Applied Economic Research (New Delhi), Child Relief and You (Mumbai), Centre for Science and Environment (New Delhi) and Children's Book Trust (New Delhi).^[6]

Tata Sons and Ratan Tata donated ₹1,500 crore to the PM CARES Fund to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in India.^[7]

The Sir Ratan Tata Small Grant Programme (SGP) was launched in 1998–99. These grants cater to the needs of small, welfare-oriented organisations, and those needing support to implement innovative ideas. It was later amended to accommodate the worthy larger organisations that needed funding for strategic planning, focused research activities, or strengthening internal systems.^[8][9]

The Individual Grants Programme of the Trust provides financial help for:

• Meeting medical contingencies
• Scholars pursuing higher education in India and assistance for education-related overseas travel.