'There Is A Need To Grow All Of India'

Hero Enterprise Chairman Sunil Munjal feels impact investing must bridge the gap between the top and the bottom of the pyramid to quell social unrest as well as foster growth

- Anshul Dhamija

When it comes to impact investing, Sunil Munjal, chairman of Hero Enterprise, is the newsmaker of 2017. In April, Munjal wrote a cheque of ₹100 crore to Aavishkaar, an early-stage, social venture capital firm. The investment, dubbed the biggest such by an Indian HNI, was part of Aavishkaar’s ₹2,000-crore Aavishkaar Bharat Fund to bankroll startups as well as other companies that operate in sectors such as agriculture, financial services, renewable energy and health care.

The 57-year-old entrepreneur, who moved out of his family’s flagship company Hero MotoCorp in 2016, is also a votary of India’s traditional arts and crafts. “If it can be branded and positioned appropriately, it will truly build India’s soft power,” Munjal tells Forbes India in an interview. Excerpts:

Q The buzz is that you signed the single biggest impact investment cheque among Indian HNIs. What made you invest in Aavishkaar?

Frankly, I didn’t realise I was doing that. The idea is simple. For us, as a nation, there is a need to grow all of India. You’ll see that, over the last 20 to 30 years, India has done exceedingly well at the top [of the pyramid]. But the gap between the top and the rest has grown dramatically. There are many [citizens] who still do not have access to basic opportunities in the areas of education, health care, clean drinking water, etc. Aavishkaar has a track record of investing in enterprises that work in those areas and in a manner that is both profitable and sustainable. So, it looked like a perfect place to invest in.