The Ajay G. Piramal Foundation is a private foundation that invests in innovative solutions to sustainable development.

Through the pursuit of practical innovations for India's development, we hope to create replicable solutions to some of our nation's pressing challenges.   In the process, we aim to build a generation of socially conscious leaders who will make a difference.   Our method is based on a belief that talented young people, challenged to address some of our country's most common development issues, will find innovative solutions that are relevant, cost-effective, and applicable to the nation at large.   

(1) systemic and replicable solutions to pressing grassroots challenges related to health, education, livelihoods, and access to technology.

2) programs that engage India's powerful young demographic with the progress of their country.

Established in 2006, the Piramal Foundation started by establishing a "Grassroots Development Laboratory" in the ancestral town of the Piramal family: Bagar, Rajasthan.   The GDL's mandate, much like the research and development centers for industrial innovations, is to find solutions to the toughest questions in the development of rural India.   The GDL team works only on issues of national relevance, applying different ideas through innovative trials in a single district.   Our aim:  to find ideas with promise can be scaled to larger populations by future foundation projects.

As part of our commitment to preparing India's emerging generation for leadership, the foundation continues to support and grow "Dreaming of an Indian Awakening", an early-stage effort to build critical thinking skills and a stronger knowledge base on issues related to the country and its progress.  DIA organizes world-class art exhibitions, performances, film showings, lectures and seminars;  DIA seeks to encourage young Indians to embark on a constructive endeavor moving India towards a brighter future.