Deputy First Minister John Swinney has opened the Scotland:India Impact Link in Mumbai

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has opened an Indian offshoot of Scotland’s Social Enterprise Academy in Mumbai.

Specialist expertise from Scotland will be used to help grow and sustain new social enterprises in India, following the collaboration between the two countries.

The Scottish Government has backed the venture with a £40,000 investment in the partnership, known as the Scotland:India Impact Link.

It will provided Indian social enterprises with mentoring and financial support, as well as matching social entrepreneurs in India with their counterparts in Scotland.

It is estimated that there are around two million social enterprises operating across India.

Swinney said: “With over a decade of experience in developing social enterprise in Scotland, it is our responsibility as a good global citizen to share what we have learned.

“Examples such as Brewgooder show the success our approach is having. In fact, Scotland is now considered a world leader in the support and development of social enterprise.

“Taking this approach to India, where the growth of social enterprise has been rapid over the last few years, brings mutual benefit to both countries.

“Knowing the potential that social enterprises have to empower and transform communities, this is an investment in the future of India. But also, with the very different challenges faced by Indian social entrepreneurs, there is much Scotland can learn in return.”

Scottish Government funding has been used to train ten facilitators and run initial pilot programmes run during 2017 with Unltd Delhi, iSEEDand India Fellow.

The Social Enterprise Academy, based in Edinburgh, now operates in ten countries worldwide including Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Malawi.

Social Enterprise Academy International CIC managing director Sam Baumber said: “If we’re going to tackle the world’s social and environmental problems, we need to work together. Scotland’s social enterprise sector is keen to offer its experience to support India’s social enterprises, who also face challenges Scotland’s social entrepreneurs have not had to contend with. We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do together.

“We’re learning by doing, just like any enterprise. We will pilot this first year, learn and adapt to serve India’s social entrepreneurs.”

In 2016, the Scottish Government published a ten-year social enterprise strategy,which was co-produced with Scotland’s social enterprise sector.

In recognition of Scotland’s world-leading status in this field, Edinburgh will host the Social Enterprise World Forum in 2018.