ISDM's Report Underlines Innovative Finance Trends in India to Address the SDG Funding Gap

New Delhi [India], October 6: A report by the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) titled "Bridging Perspectives: Innovative Finance Insights from India" has revealed the growing role of innovative finance in mobilising resources, enabling societal change, and advancing sustainable development goals.

The report was presented at the Dialogues on Development Management (DoDM) conference organised by ISDM, which focused on Management for Social Change and delivered valuable insights and a roadmap for future initiatives in the social sector.

''The present time is ripe for the civil society space to make bold strides in accessing and optimising innovative financing and frameworks to amplify social impact and its metrics. This report and the discussions that we have facilitated with partners and stakeholders today and will carry forward are vital towards integrating social finance as a complement to government and philanthropic spending to provide the catalytic capital required to bridge the SDG gap in India and globally," said Ravi Sreedharan, Co-Founder and President, ISDM during the unveiling of the report.

Furthermore, the report also states that India faces a substantial funding shortfall of USD 94 billion to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2022, a figure that is slated to soar to USD 152 billion by 2027. This highlights the limitations of depending solely on philanthropy and public funding to meet these ambitious targets.

Hence, there is a pressing need to explore innovative and alternative financing models and instruments, including channelling private sector investments into the social sector.

According to the report, some of the dominating trends in the Innovative Finance Landscape include-

Diverse growth factors: Innovative Finance is witnessing various growth factors, including markets' evolution and increased interest from donors.

Growing emphasis on achieving favourable financial returns: This has sparked discussions about balancing financial returns and social impact.

Instrument preferences: Investors prefer financing instruments that are simple and familiar. While there have been experiments with complex instruments like impact bonds, their adoption remains limited due to their intricate nature.

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