HSBC Skills for Life programme in partnership with Swades Foundation is seeking applications for 2019 Grant in order to enable at least 30,000 disadvantaged youth to become employable and enter and sustain employment and enterprise opportunities in India in the next 5 years through skill development.

The programme will support skill development in 9 sectors that have incremental human resource requirements. These are - Automotive, Banking & Financial Services, Electronics & IT hardware industry, Healthcare Services, IT & ITes, Transportation and Logistics, Retail, Telecommunications and Tourism & Hospitality.

The applications can be sent up to 31st Jan 2019.

The focus is on at least 30,000 disadvantaged youth (the youth should be classified as BPL (below poverty line) by government of India and/ or (b) belongs to a household with an annual household income of less than INR 2,00,000 per annum)  to become employable and enter and sustain employment and enterprise opportunities in India in the next 5 years through skill development.

For 2019, the programme has ear-marked INR 12 crore to be disbursed as grants to NGOs for projects that skill youth and link them employment or entrepreneurship opportunities. The organization must request for grant between INR 25 lakhs and INR 75 lakhs. The total budget requested should not exceed 20% of the organisation’s income/ turnover in the previous year (i.e. year 2016 -17).

The grant must not be towards the construction/renovation of buildings/existing training centers and the purchase of land or property.

Please go through the application procedure carefully here and application pack can be downloaded on request from here.

HSBC Skills for Life is a five year INR 100 crore commitment by HSBC India that will focus on employment and entrepreneurship-linked skill development of disadvantaged youth, upskilling of teachers and educators, and women’s empowerment through financial education and livelihood enhancement.

The programme aligns with the Bank’s philosophy of ‘Supporting Human Ambition’ that reflects the Bank’s commitment to connect and build meaningful relationships and help every individual realise their ambitions, while creating a sense of optimism that leads to collective progress.