{"id":57806,"date":"2026-07-16T19:50:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/policy-meets-capital-forging-the-next-decade-of-women-led-sustainable-development-at-ddsea-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T19:50:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:20:48","slug":"policy-meets-capital-forging-the-next-decade-of-women-led-sustainable-development-at-ddsea-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/policy-meets-capital-forging-the-next-decade-of-women-led-sustainable-development-at-ddsea-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Meets Capital: Forging the Next Decade of Women-Led Sustainable Development at DDSEA 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A glimpse from the DesiDhaakad<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2122-1.png\" alt=\"\u2122\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\"> Sustainability Excellence Awards 2026 (DDSEA 2026) at NSE Mumbai<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 16:<\/strong> A power-packed evening unfolded on July 10, 2026, as the inaugural <strong>DesiDhaakad<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2122-1.png\" alt=\"\u2122\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\"> Sustainability Excellence Awards 2026 (DDSEA 2026)<\/strong> concluded successfully at the NSE Atrium, BKC, Mumbai. presented by <a href=\"http:\/\/etherwire.ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Etherwire.ai<\/a> and Co-hosted by <strong>NSE Sustainability Ratings &amp; Analytics Limited. <\/strong>The event was dedicated to Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi\u2019s visionary call for <strong>Viksit Bharat 2047<\/strong> and the rich cultural ethos of Bharat. It celebrated women leaders and organisations driving environmental stewardship, sustainable development, and community impact rooted in India\u2019s heritage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are the key highlights from the fireside chat between Sanjeev Rohilla (Chief General Manager, NABARD) and Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee (widely regarded as the father of CSR in India) <a><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Women at the Core of the CSR Framework<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Chatterjee highlighted that women\u2019s empowerment was deliberately placed at the center of Schedule 7 when the CSR law was drafted .He shared that CSR funding directed toward women\u2019s empowerment has grown from \u20b9265 crores to \u20b9460 crores in just three years, helping mobilize over 10 crore women into approximately 91 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs)<a><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Proposing a \u20b9100 Crore Zero-Cost Credit Fund<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Noting that high commercial bank interest rates (10\u201312%) block many women-led enterprises, Sanjeev Rohilla proposed creating a \u20b9100 crore blended finance fund He suggested that NABARD could potentially contribute \u20b97\u20138 crores as a zero-cost returnable grant, and invited Dr. Chatterjee to help bring 10\u201312 corporate CSR houses on board to supply the remaining capital, providing women entrepreneurs with essential zero-cost credit<a><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Game-Changing Potential of the Social Stock Exchange<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to the funding constraints, Dr. Chatterjee pointed to the newly recognized <strong>Social Stock Exchange<\/strong> and the <strong>Zero Coupon, Zero Principal (ZCZP)<\/strong> instruments. This framework allows nonprofits\u2014an increasing number of which are led by women\u2014to issue up to \u20b950 lakhs for specific projects. It provides maximum transparency for corporate donors while exempting the enterprises from burdensome third-party assessments.<a><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Historical Legacy of Women in Climate Action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Closing the session, Dr. Chatterjee reflected on his 1980s conversations with environmentalist Vandana Shiva regarding the <strong>Chipko Movement<\/strong> . He emphasized that while men were often named as leaders, the actual grassroots movement preventing commercial logging was driven entirely by rural women . They used powerful cultural symbols\u2014like tying <em>rakhis<\/em> (sacred threads) around trees to claim them as relatives\u2014setting the ultimate benchmark for sustainability leadership in India.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Event\u00a0 celebrated women leaders and organisations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DesiDhaakad Samman \u2013 <strong>Marcella D\u2019Souza (W-CReS)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jury Top Choice:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Madhura DasGupta Sinha (Aspire For Her) \u2013 Jury Top Choice<\/li>\n<li>Pratima Joshi (Shelter Associates) \u2013 Jal Rakshak (Jury Top Choice)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Notable Individual Awardees:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dr. Ruby Makhija (Why Waste Wednesdays Foundation) \u2013 Apashisht Rakshak Women Changemaker<\/li>\n<li>Bhavini Nishith Parikh (Bunko Junko) \u2013 Chakra Rakshak<\/li>\n<li>Akanksha Priyadarshini (Aurassure Pvt Ltd) \u2013 Environmental Stewardship<\/li>\n<li>Arundhati Patil \u2013 Dharti Rakshak<\/li>\n<li>Gitasree Das (Rupantaran Foundation) \u2013 Asamanya Parichit<\/li>\n<li>Laxmipriya Parida (Indian Grameen Services) \u2013 Sustainable Livelihoods<\/li>\n<li>Swati Singh Sambyal (GRID-Arendal) \u2013 Gyaan Yodha Vichar Veer<\/li>\n<li>Mrs. Minali N. Thakkar \u2013 Mentors\u2019 Choice Award<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Organisation Awardees &amp; Special Mentions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dr. Saloni Satish Wagh (Supriya Lifescience Ltd.) \u2013 Dharti Rakshak<\/li>\n<li>Bharti Singh Chauhan (PraveenLata Sansthan Foundation) \u2013 Asamanya Parichit<\/li>\n<li>Shraddha Jadon (Shaktishali Mahila Sangathan Samiti (SMSS)) \u2013 Urja Veer<\/li>\n<li>Dr Lata Ghanshamnani (RNisarg Foundation) \u2013 Prakriti Rakshak<\/li>\n<li>Natasha Raj (Credila Financial Services) \u2013 Asamanya Parichit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Editorial by Sarita Bahl<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sarita Bahl, Board of Management, <a href=\"http:\/\/etherwire.ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Etherwire.ai<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Sarita Bahl serves on the Board of Management at Etherwire.ai, a professional media platform dedicated to shaping narratives that matter. Driven by Etherwire\u2019s core mandate to curate stories of influence and impact rather than just content, she chronicles the intersection of leadership, sustainability, and Nari Shakti. In this editorial, she distills the visionary dialogues of the Desi Dhaakad 2026 awards, spotlighting the frameworks and formidable voices building the foundation of India\u2019s 2047 reality<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Partners<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event received the support of valued partners, including NSE Sustainability Ratings &amp; Analytics Limited (Co-Host), CII Indian Women Network,\u00a0 Equibeeipo, Nuvama Group, Indorient Financial Services, ESGNews.earth, Durlax Top Surface, Rysa Infratech, WriteCanvas, Nadhi-SheForClimate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.desidhaakad.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/www.desidhaakad.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>If you object to the content of this press release, please notify us at pr.error.rectification@gmail.com. We will respond and rectify the situation within 24 hours.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A glimpse from the DesiDhaakad Sustainability Excellence Awards 2026 (DDSEA 2026) at NSE Mumbai Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 16: A power-packed evening unfolded on July [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[623],"class_list":["post-57806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livemumbai.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}