The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) has a collaborative partnership with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), one of India’s leading FMCG companies, to promote entrepreneurship development. This collaboration is being undertaken as part of HUL’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, aimed at strengthening livelihoods and empowering marginalized communities through entrepreneurship.
Key Initiatives and Achievements
- Support under SANKALP Scheme (FY 2022-23 and 2023-24): Under the project titled “Strengthening Entrepreneurial Climate through Capacity Building, Incubation Support, Mentoring and Handholding”, NIESBUD implemented a multi-faceted initiative to promote entrepreneurship among marginalized sections of society. The project was supported by the SANKALP Programme of MSDE, with HUL co-funding part of the project.
- Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes (EAPs) – FY 2023-24 and 2024-25: With continued CSR support from HUL, NIESBUD trained a total of 1,00,053 participants. These programmes helped generate awareness about entrepreneurship as a livelihood option for underserved communities.
- Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) – FY 2024-25: In this financial year, NIESBUD was sanctioned a project by HUL to organise comprehensive Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) for 1,125 aspiring entrepreneurs across India. These covered areas such as opportunity identification, business planning, marketing, financial management, legal compliance, and digital tools for enterprise growth.
- Post-Training Support: A unique feature of the programme is the provision of 1-year post-training mentorship and handholding support. Participants receive continuous guidance to resolve challenges and progress toward launching or scaling up their own enterprises.
NIESBUD has successfully completed the training component of the programme and is currently engaged in providing structured mentoring and handholding to the trained entrepreneurs to support their entrepreneurial journey.
